Why did Donald Trump defeat Kamala Harris? One answer was clear even before Election Day: Voters consistently said the economy was their top issue, driven primarily by concerns about inflation. And they trusted Trump more than Harris to handle it. “It’s the economy, stupid” is an old cliché in American politics, and it often proves true.

Still, Trump’s achievement contained a mystery. On paper, the economy seems OK. Inflation is down recently. Wages are up. But anger persists. That’s because higher prices cause a special kind of pain — one that lingers and, historically, leads voters to punish the people in charge. Tuesday was no exception.

Today’s newsletter explains why voters still blamed the Biden-Harris administration — and why America’s leaders are far from alone in feeling the public’s fury over inflation this year.

Pocketbook pain

Why does inflation anger voters so much? Some economic problems, like high unemployment, affect only a minority of the population. But higher prices affect everyone.

Inflation also taps into what psychologists call “loss aversion”: People feel negatively about losses much more than they feel positively about gains. So although wages have kept up with inflation or surpassed it, people still feel more pained by sticker shock at the grocery store than elated by their gains.