Panel Abstract

Tracking Public Perception On Inflation And Its Relationship With Approval Ratings On Governance And Political Popularity

A world apart from technical jargon of economics and finance, the common man on the street is turning sullen. This change in sentiment is perhaps best captured by inflation. Historically, sentiments pertaining to inflation have fueled revolutions and defeated governments. To reiterate, it is the sentiment around inflation that is important and the actual inflation figures are lesser so. For a comparison, the inflation sentiment in the twilight of UPA (2013) era was running wild, 52% respondents complained regarding inflation’s high impact on their lives. This figure fell to an all time low of only 25% in 2017 under Modi administration, that is only 25% respondents asserted that inflation had a high negative impact on their lives. The figures for those who thought that inflation did not impact them at all stood at 8% (2013) and 40% (2017) respectively. However, the divergence between positive and negative sentiment pertaining to inflation converged dramatically in 2018 with those asserting a high negative impact at 33% and those feeling unimpacted at 35%. This convergence is a definitive cause of worry as NDA-II would like to distinguish itself on the inflation front vis a vis UPA.

Presentation