{"id":10603,"date":"2026-11-02T08:30:37","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T08:30:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/?p=10603"},"modified":"2026-10-29T14:58:35","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T14:58:35","slug":"the-reagan-quote-that-explains-republicans-midterm-elections-pessimism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/the-reagan-quote-that-explains-republicans-midterm-elections-pessimism\/","title":{"rendered":"The Reagan Quote that Explains Republicans\u2019 Midterm Elections Pessimism"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Daniel Butcher<\/a><\/p>\n

As the 2026 US midterm elections approach and politicians make their rounds on the campaign trail, Ronald Reagan\u2019s oft-repeated question\u2014 \u201cAre you better off than you were four years ago?\u201d\u2014is forcing President Donald Trump and his party to defend their economic record in the face of voters\u2019 deep frustration and anxiety over the high cost of living. Despite positive indicators across stock markets buoyed by artificial intelligence (AI), stagnant wages and persistent inflation, driven by a 4% increase in consumer prices and a 45% spike in oil and gasoline costs linked to the Iran war, have pushed consumer sentiment\u2014and Trump\u2019s approval ratings\u2014to near-record lows.<\/p>\n

According to Academy of Management Scholar Jeffrey Pfeffer<\/a> of Stanford University, most people in the US will tell you that they are worse off than they were in January 2025, when President Trump\u2019s second term began.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe prices are higher\u2014voters are concerned about their pocketbooks and the effects of AI\u2014they are anxious and upset,\u201d Pfeffer said. \u201cThis is a good economy if you own a lot of stock\u2014it\u2019s been a good economy for high-net-worth individuals and corporations, oil-and-gas companies in particular.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s certainly been a good economy if you\u2019re a friend or family member of Donald Trump, because he’s given out a bunch of no-bid contracts, and we got the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool debacle<\/a> and all these other scandals,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

There are many ways in which Trump and his family have profited from his presidency<\/a>. He has also normalized making offensive remarks, even if that won\u2019t be an important factor in the upcoming midterm elections.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe level of corruption is really unprecedented, but my concern about the knock-on effects of his policies and his leadership<\/a> are that it\u2019s going to take everything\u2014not only in the public sector but also in the private sector\u2014and make it worse, because to some extent, the president is an exemplar for all leaders,\u201d Pfeffer said. \u201cSo, if you were to say to your colleagues, \u2018What are the effects of a leader?\u2019 one of the effects of a leader is to set an example, to be a model for other people.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd many people will now say, \u2018Well, you know, if the president of the United States can make racist and misogynistic comments, so can I,\u2019 and I have African American friends who claim that we are back to the 1950s, prior to the Civil Rights Movement, in terms of the level of discourse, the use of the N-word, and all this other racist stuff,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis example is also catastrophic for ethics, as many people think, \u2018If the President of the United States can basically act in ways that are completely self-dealing, so can I.\u2019 So, the worst knock-on effect is Trump serving as the role model and the bad lessons he is sending to other leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A sample of Pfeffer\u2019s AOM research findings:<\/strong><\/p>\n