Are you saying people are expecting CPI deflation? I don't think that's accurate, and it's also definitely not gonna happen.
A chipotle burrito with carne asada steak and guac is now $17
Amy’s frozen pizza was $6.99 and is now $10 (don’t buy it any more, I’ll be dammed if I spend 10 bucks on frozen pizza)
I looked up the price for Amy's Vegan Supreme pizza at my local Kroger, in-stock for $7.99. No sales tax on that item, so just that price.
Because they're two different concepts. Public sentiment is generally a lagging indicator on the economy. People will think we're still in a high even after the economy has started to falter. And people will still think times are bad even after the economy starts to come back.
You are correct that public sentiment is on what people vote. That doesn't mean they are accurately assessing the economy.
Someone’s belief was causing them to invent numbers coming out to justify that belief.
This is why the numbers are largely useless at gauging public sentiment. Nobody cares that this quarter the rate of inflation has slowed. They care that chicken breasts cost double what it should. They care that a Ford Mustang GT can cost $50k when they were pretty sure they were $30k. They care that fast food costs as much as a sit down restaraunt should and the sit down costs as much as a nice one should.
Now you can all explain that with numbers and reports but sentiment doesn't care about that. Public opinion is an inherently irrational thing. But it is still incredibly important because elections are decided by it. It doesn't matter if GDP is positive and inflation is good right now if everyone thinks we are in a recession and the prices of everything are too damn high. You will get voted out. I'm not sure why this is a hard concept to grasp.