Inside the Telecommunications Bubble

A recent Harris-Guardian poll shows that the public’s perception of the economy is different than economic reality. Most things that the majority of Americans believe about the economy are wrong. I have to say this surprised me more than it probably should have. 

• 49% of poll respondents believe that unemployment is at a 50-year high. The opposite is true, and unemployment has stayed below 4% for over two years – something that hasn’t happened since the early 1960s.
• 49% also think the stock market is down this year, when the market has grown by over 10%, and most markets have reached an all-time high in recent months.

How can the public’s perception be so different than the economic reality? For one, many people base their opinion on issues like the economy according to their own situation and personal feelings.  What does all of this have to do with broadband? It’s easy for industry insiders to forget that insiders live in a telecommunications bubble. If half of the people in the country have the wrong beliefs about basic economic facts, then how many people know anything about the end of the Affordable Connectivity Program?