Hello, friends, and welcome back to the Bill Press Pod. It's the economy stupid, with those now

famous four words. James Carville, Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign manager, admonish campaign staffers to focus on what was the most

important issue to the American people in those days. And what was true in 1992 is still true

29 years later. More than any other issue, Americans, notably American voters, pay attention to the economy. For the most part,

if it's okay, they're okay. Today, the economy may be a more important issue than ever because

it faces so many challenges, some old challenges like inflation and automation, but lots of new challenges like recovering from

a pandemic, dealing with global supply chain delays, and managing a stay-at-home workforce that's

not too excited about putting on a suit and tie and going back to the office. All challenges

the Biden administration must meet head on and further back to the office. All challenges the Biden administration must meet head-on and further complicated by the fact

that while the economy seems to be pretty well on this way to recovery, Americans still don't

feel good about it.

So what's really going on with the economy?

For answers today, we turn to Keith Mestrich,

former president of Amalgamated Bank, now working on a new initiative to bring banking to low-income

Americans. Keith Mestridge, welcome to the Bill Press pod. It's great to reconnect with you

after too many years. Good to see you again, Bill.

So every public opinion poll that I see, Keith, Americans say that even more than climate change or immigration or education or crime, that the economy is what they really care about.

So let me just ask you to start off generally overall looking at the economy today.

How would you rate the state of the economy today, given all the indicators that you look at?

Well, you know, I kind of get while people are mixed up on things because there is a whole bunch of inconsistent data out there, right? If you look at the numbers, unemployment is low, but there's all kinds of people who are out of work or are still seeking work or can't find the kind of work that makes sense for them because they still have to figure out how to deal with their kids or other things. Interest rates are low. Housing is going crazy,

but because housing is going crazy, nobody can afford housing. People have all this money, right,

that they got from stimulus and other things, but it's hard to get things to be able to buy

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