The Economy Is Great — Unless You Ask Americans

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent went to Capitol Hill yesterday and told Congress the economy is doing just fine. Real wages are outpacing inflation, he said. The bottom 25% of wage earners are seeing larger increases than those at the top. The problem, he argued, is that Democrats are "poisoning" the surveys. Americans are telling pollsters the economy stinks, but they're lying. "You're better than that," Bessent told a congressman who pressed him on consumer sentiment data showing a 20-point drop since Trump took office.

Krystal and Saagar spent the first half of the episode walking through why Bessent's argument is collapsing — and why the economic picture looks radically different from what the administration is selling.

The Oil Shock Nobody Is Talking About

The most concrete economic development came from Saudi Arabia. Reuters reported that Saudi Arabia is canceling shipments of crude oil to Europe after the destruction of its East-West pipeline, combined with ongoing Ansar Allah (Houthi) strikes against Saudi infrastructure. Late September deliveries are canceled. October deliveries are "wobbly." If you're in Europe and ordered a tanker of Saudi crude, it's not showing up.