Embracing Truthiness in Biden’s Economy: Why Gut-Level Truth Matters
By Michael Kelman Portney
In the Biden era, we’re surrounded by numbers, reports, and statistics about the economy. Inflation rates, job numbers, GDP growth—every news cycle brings another round of data that, according to experts, paints a clear picture of America’s economic health. But for many Americans, those numbers don’t align with reality as they experience it. This is where “truthiness”—the concept Stephen Colbert famously coined as truth that feels true, whether or not it’s factually verified—comes into play.
Embracing truthiness means trusting our instincts and personal experience, especially when it comes to understanding the economy. It’s about acknowledging that, while statistics may technically be accurate, they don’t always reflect the full story of what Americans are feeling and experiencing. Let’s examine how truthiness helps us cut through the polished narratives of Biden’s economy and get to a gut-level understanding of what’s really going on.
1. The Official Numbers vs. Everyday Reality
The Biden administration often touts economic indicators as signs of recovery and stability. Unemployment is low, job growth is strong, and consumer spending is up. But these numbers don’t always match what people feel in their daily lives. Prices are still high, housing remains unaffordable for many, and wages haven’t kept pace with inflation. Truthiness allows us to recognize that there’s a disconnect here—a sense that the official numbers don’t capture the economic stress that persists for many Americans.
Truthiness is about saying, “I hear what the experts are saying, but my gut says otherwise.” It empowers us to trust that gut feeling, to say that something feels off even if the data seems to tell us things are fine. This approach gives weight to personal experience as a legitimate form of truth, one that can reveal a side of the economy that numbers alone might overlook.
2. Why Facts Alone Don’t Change How We Feel About the Economy
Facts and figures can tell us a lot about an economy on paper, but they don’t always change how people feel about their economic security. Studies have shown that people’s economic confidence is shaped as much by personal experience as by broader economic indicators. In Biden’s economy, where conflicting reports of prosperity and hardship often coexist, truthiness provides a way to reconcile what we hear with what we feel.
Truthiness speaks to that part of us that doesn’t just rely on numbers but on experience. Even if data suggests we should feel optimistic, our gut may tell us something different based on what we see around us—friends struggling, costs rising, housing remaining out of reach. Embracing truthiness lets us honor these feelings rather than dismiss them as “unfounded” or “illogical.” Because in a complex economy, instinct sometimes reveals truths that statistics can’t.
3. Truthiness as a Response to the “Official” Economic Story
Every administration has its version of the economy’s story, and Biden’s is no different. Official narratives focus on positive gains, steady recovery, and the resilience of the American workforce. But truthiness allows us to step back and say, “Is that the whole story?” It’s a way to acknowledge that, while the numbers may technically reflect progress, they may not reflect the complexity or unevenness of that progress.
Truthiness pushes us to question the curated economic narrative, to ask why some issues—like persistent inflation or rising living costs—seem downplayed or spun in a way that doesn’t align with what people experience. Truthiness encourages us to challenge the one-size-fits-all version of reality, recognizing that the truth about an economy is often more complicated than the official story suggests.
4. Trusting Personal Experience as Economic Truth
One of the strongest aspects of truthiness is that it values personal experience as a form of truth. If inflation rates are supposedly under control, yet groceries cost more each week, truthiness allows us to validate that experience as part of the economic reality. The “truth” of an economy, in this sense, isn’t only what the data shows; it’s also what people live day to day.
In Biden’s economy, truthiness gives us the freedom to recognize that economic growth on paper doesn’t mean economic stability in practice. It acknowledges that our experience—rising costs, stagnant wages, difficulty affording rent—is as legitimate a form of truth as any government report. Truthiness says that the lived reality of Americans is part of the economic truth, and it deserves attention alongside the official statistics.
5. Challenging the Spin with Gut-Level Reality
Biden’s economic messaging often emphasizes recovery and resilience, but many feel left behind in the so-called “recovery.” Truthiness helps us cut through this spin, letting us confront the reality that prosperity isn’t felt equally across all demographics or regions. When we embrace truthiness, we’re asserting that what feels real on a gut level deserves recognition, even if it contradicts the positive spin coming from official channels.
Truthiness doesn’t mean dismissing data; it means recognizing the limitations of data when it’s used to present a narrative that doesn’t fully reflect what people are experiencing. In Biden’s economy, truthiness helps us trust our perceptions, question the spin, and acknowledge that a report on job growth doesn’t necessarily mean people are thriving.
6. Truthiness as a Path to Economic Autonomy
Truthiness allows us to reclaim autonomy over our economic understanding. Rather than relying solely on experts or reports, it encourages us to trust our own instincts and experiences. This is especially important in an economy where complex issues are often boiled down to simple metrics. Truthiness says, “I don’t need a Ph.D. in economics to know what feels true.”
In a time when economic narratives are frequently controlled by experts, embracing truthiness is an act of economic independence. It gives us the autonomy to form our own understanding of the economy, one that’s informed by data but not limited by it. Truthiness empowers us to create a personal view of economic reality that reflects what’s true for us, rather than accepting a one-size-fits-all narrative.
Final Thoughts: Embracing Truthiness as Economic Wisdom
Truthiness isn’t about rejecting facts; it’s about acknowledging that facts alone don’t capture the full picture. In Biden’s economy, where statistics and real life often seem to clash, truthiness becomes a tool for economic clarity. It reminds us that numbers are only part of the story and that our lived experience, our gut-level truths, are also essential in understanding the bigger picture.
By embracing truthiness, we’re not denying data; we’re integrating it with our instincts, creating an understanding of the economy that feels real, relatable, and authentic. In a world of spin, truthiness is a way to stay grounded in reality—to honor what feels true even when it doesn’t fit the official story. And in a time when economic confidence is hard to find, truthiness might just be the most valuable form of economic wisdom we have.
