Our economy is doing well — but many Americans refuse to believe it

There is a puzzle at the heart of American political life right now: Why are people so gloomy about an economy that is so strong?

I will get to inflation in a moment. Almost no economists predicted the force of the current recovery. Growth in 2021 came in at 5.7 percent, the highest in almost 40 years. The unemployment rate is 4 percent. Poverty has fallen below pre-pandemic levels. Child poverty has decreased by almost 40 percent in 2021. New businesses are forming at a record rate, bankruptcies are falling, and Americans’ savings are healthy.

The jobs numbers are so good that Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) has refused to urge Oshkosh Corp. to use federal funds to build trucks in his home state. “It’s not like we don’t have enough jobs here in Wisconsin,” he said recently. “The biggest problem we have … right now is employers not being able to find enough workers.” The state’s unemployment rate is just 2.8 percent.

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