Your Phone Is the Reason You Feel Broke

It's a microcosm of the weird, sour vibrancy of the economic moment.

- John Herrman

FOR THE PAST YEAR, the political class has been wearing itself out over what sounds like a simple question: Why are Americans so down on the economy? Wages are rising, unemployment is low, labor participation is high, and inflation is slowing. Look at the consumer price index! The Biden economy is pretty great, actually, yet less than a fifth of swing-state voters will concede that the condition of the economy is even "good." Okay, but while inflation is in some sense under control, and some goods and services are even getting cheaper, prices remain noticeably high; likewise, interest rates, while no longer rising, have frozen the housing market, leaving homeowners and renters alike feeling stuck in place or worse. Look at the consumer price index! The Biden economy is pretty terrible, actually, yet seemingly nobody in charge will concede that it's even sort of bad.

One point of agreement is that core indicators seem to have diverged from how people report feeling about the economy or are insufficient to explain such things in the first place. This sentimental breakdown presents as either a tricky puzzle or a severe emergency, depending, for example, on whether or not you're trying to remain president. In the absence of a definitive story, pet theories rule supreme: about the media and the vibes; about the real meaning of high spending; about political pessimism bleeding into everything else; about various related smaller feelings adding up to a big bad mood. You've got to give the prices some credit, though. Nobody would suggest it's the most important thing in the world, but store-bought Diet Coke has gone up 65 percent in five years, which sure feels like a rip-off and not not a sign that something bigger is wrong, no matter how much money you make.