There’s the meme in Democratic politics that’s like “why don’t voters understand the economy is good when the stats say it is and when polled they say they personally are doing well?” 1/

I think it’s geopolitics and environmental. When the apocalypse feels close at hand, you just don’t describe it as a good economy, regardless of this quarter’s GDP. 2/

Pax Americana is under siege. Israel has undermined the moral basis, and Republicans have undermined the political basis, for our role in Ukraine, dramatically increasing the likelihood of global chaos, and frankly diminishing our collective will to resist it. 3/

Global temperatures have been off the charts — average, sea surface temperatures — extreme events of one sort or another are tangible threats to nearly everyone, we are in uncharted waters testing the resilience of ecosystems we depend upon utterly. 4/

In the face of all this, “why aren’t consumers optimistic now that inflation is subsiding without a recession” just misses the point, every point. /fin