As part of his explanation for why Mamdani was elected, Maher launches into a speech about how the economy isn't working for many Americans and tacitly admits he doesn't understand how bifurcated the economy has become:

"I understand why people are angry about the economy, especially in New York…Explain this economy. How some people are eating $36 cheeseburgers and other people are voting for socialism. And I understand why they're voting for socialism — because they can't even make ends meet and they're worried about not eating at all."

Maher has correctly identified the problem: the gap between the "haves" and "have nots" is getting wider. Elsewhere in the show, as Maher continues to unpack why the economy feels broken, he's forced to acknowledge that the stock market is at all-time highs. From there, he asks—genuinely confused—why costs are so high and why ordinary people can't afford basic necessities.

I've seen the same with what feels like an endless line of pundits and political commentators who want to discuss the economy but don't really understand its dynamics. Maher can't really point to what's making the economy "bad" under Trump—despite the record stock market—because he doesn't understand the underlying forces driving the inflation he's criticizing.

The "health" of the economy has become a moving target for people eager to attack it by any means. One day they'll judge it by job numbers, the next by the stock market, and on Friday, in Bill Maher's case, by the cost of consumer goods.

What Maher needs to understand is that the inflation he's using to condemn the state of the economy stems from a massive, bipartisan failure to confront America's monetary policy. Both Republicans and Democrats have been negligent in challenging the status quo at the Federal Reserve—whose true mandate seems to be keeping financial asset prices inflated at all costs. As the money supply rises, so does inflation, so widens the inequality gap. And it's been a bipartisan problem, Bill.

Widening of the inequality gap — the problem Maher is taking exception with — is what happens when the Fed bails out the housing market. It's what happens when it adds trillions of dollars to its balance sheet to "stimulate" the economy during crises like COVID. And it's what will happen again during the next sharp deleveraging—when the Fed inevitably steps in to rescue the system once more. As inflation is a tide that causes the Top 10% of personal wealth holders to get richer and increases the cost of goods, the "haves" don't feel a damn thing, while a larger and larger portion of the "have nots" are brutalized by not being able to afford normal consumer goods.