According to our local newspaper, the net worth of the average American rose 37 percent between 2019 and 2022. Unemployment is around a 50-year low. Inflation has fallen to the point that it is around the average of the last 50 years. Interest rates are higher than they were in the recent past, but about average for my lifetime. The picture looks very bright on its face, but most Americans are complaining. Why?
I think housing prices, which represent a large part of the increased average net worth, are a big part of the puzzle. The average renter experiences the high prices on a daily basis and has reason to complain about them. The average owner, who benefits from the housing price inflation, doesn’t think about his increased net worth very much; he is more focused on higher gas and food prices, which he pays every day.
Hence, the apparently irrational grumbling about the state of the economy.