Something has gone terribly wrong in the United States. Strong wage growth, high employment, a record stock market, and other positive macroeconomic indicators used to suggest that Americans were benefiting: people were finding work, companies were growing, and wealth was being created. But something was off last Tuesday as Americans flooded the polls to deliver a blue wave, with the economy front and center in their decisions. All of these fantastic economic indicators the Trump administration had been setting, and still the average American didn't believe themselves to be any better off.
Republicans have been quick to blame the mainstream media and its new coverage for that disconnect. But favorable coverage during Biden’s presidency was not enough to persuade Americans to keep a Democrat in the White House. Voters do not need the media to tell them whether their paychecks cover their bills or whether they have anything left over to save. Americans do not need the media to tell them whether they can pay their bills. What needs explaining is why an economy that looks so strong on paper leaves so many struggling to get ahead.
Canadian venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya offered a compelling diagnosis over the weekend, that could point us in the right direction.
When I’m wrong, I’m wrong. I thought when unemployment was low, GDP was hi, household income rose, it meant everyone was winning. Not true. The American economy has decoupled the economic progress of asset owners from wage earners to such a degree that broad based measures of success are no longer reliable measures of progress. This single issue of asset ownership vs progress of wage earners will be the defining issue in all future elections. Other issues will get caught in the interpretation (price of eggs, Iran war, price of gas etc) but the candidate that realizes that those are downstream of asset vs wage earners and gets their messaging focused on it will win. No amount of money spent in an election or gerrymandering will change this outcome. That is what I learned on Nov3.
— Chamath Palihapitiya (@chamath) November 8, 2026
"I thought when unemployment was low, GDP was high, household income rose, it meant everyone was winning. Not true," Palihapitiya wrote on X. "The American economy has decoupled the economic progress of asset owners from wage earners to such a degree that broad based measures of success are no longer reliable measures of progress."
At first, this may sound like socialist jargon. But look at what he is actually saying: no matter who is in power or what policies are passed, wealthy people, entrepreneurs, and asset owners consistently fare better than the average American. This is hardly controversial. But it points to something few people have sought to contend with: decades of government intrusion in the economy have so restricted economic freedom that one person’s success is increasingly isolated from another’s. Rather than creating opportunities for as many people as possible, prosperity remains concentrated among a select few.
In other words, progressive economic policy is not just threatening to keep wealth and prosperity from reaching ordinary Americans in the future. It is already doing just that.
Heavy taxation encourages businesses to hold on to more of their money and weakens incentives for philanthropy. Government policy has helped push prices beyond what wage growth can support, while essentials of the American dream, like owning a home, consume an ever-larger percentage of household income. Healthcare, higher education, and childcare costs continue to climb, all in sectors shaped by extensive government intervention.
Government economic policy is what stands between the average American and prosperity, making it harder to get ahead. Until a government committed to free-market principles dismantles those barriers, strong economic indicators will continue to mean nothing to Americans who see little to no improvement in their own lives. And their frustration with the economy will only continue to grow.