The discontent is global, so it cannot be about US specific reasons alone (i.e., college tuition). Germany's schools and colleges are free and people are at least as dissatisfied as Americans. Inflation or affordability is definitely a topic but discontent also exists in places with low inflation (e.g. Italy). And even countries with high economic growth see discontent, such as Spain. My guess is that it's a mix of a) unrealistic expectations and overpromising politicians and b) a constant drip of negative media headlines. People don't actually read much, so they are very influenced by the negative click-bait that's pervasive in media today (traditional and social media)
I'd say things were better off in the later 90s financially than today. Housing and healthcare were far less expensive letting me put more money into savings and the stock market. The federal debt was projected as balanced. The country wasn't divisive , the Internet had its nascent naivety, social media was non-existent, and I was younger (🤣).
“Things” - meaning vibes and sense of well being, security, etc, - might have been better in the 90s, but objectively on an economic basis they are much better today.
Even considering every working taxpayer is on the hook for $350,000 to pay off the federal debt ($150,000 per citizen)? If you're judging wealth by asset appreciation ---stocks, housing, crypto,etc.---those are in bubbles and can all readily change.
Yes, if the anti-abundance types on the left succeed in killing economic growth, or if politicians don’t heed the signals whenever the debt markets tell them they need to cut spending, it could be at risk.
I ain’t defending our deficits and debt, but objectively we are still much better off today.
If, I’ll acknowledge, not by quite as much as it looks like given current levels of debt.
Assuming real college requires at a minimum an IQ one stardard deviation above normal, that means 15% of the population meets the minimum requirement. If almost 40% (2022 census indicates 37.7%) of the population have a college degree, and the 2022 census indicates 15% completed some college but did not get a degree, that means about 53% of the population is being accepted by a college, thus colleges are now accepting students with below average IQ.
“It could also be that while the upper-middle class has grown and is better off in many ways, the very rich got much, much richer—and this makes the economy feel more zero-sum to people striving for success,”
Well, anything “could be”, sure.
But in fact it is much more likely that Tenth Commandment-breaking politics of envy is fueling this particular “vibe”.
Not to mention the daily reinforcement of same by the leftist MSM.
Tactically, see Dr. Kling for government's revealed purpose of "restricting supply, while subsidizing demand," thereby driving up prices presumably. Unaffordable housing, ineffective and inefficient education, bankrupting healthcare costs, and federal deficits would seem to be related.
Gramm et al. (2022) showed equal incomes for the bottom 3 quintiles after taxes and transfers, so to what extent has this thinned out the middle class as insiders make a bundle and outsiders drop out of the labor force?
Strategically, surely the issue of our times is the decline in fertility to significantly below replacement. Kearney & Levine's (2025) NBER report reviewing possible causes will make for interesting reading when I get to it. Somehow, it's hard to reconcile being "better off" with dwindling numbers of grandchildren.
"So why do people feel like the economy isn’t working for them?"
Because if you break this out by age cohort, there is a massive cleavage between the old and the young.
"Some of it is legitimate affordability issues: health care, education, and housing do cost much more."
Ya think?
Housing prices, inflated by decades of limiting supply, have generated fantastic wealth for people who bought decades ago. As an empty nester, I benefited from this beyond my wildest dreams.
You can't blow off housing costs eating up 45% of a family's income, leaving little else for life's little niceties.
Health insurance for a family of four constrains retained income, making it hard to save.
Food banks seem to have become a major growth industry in the past few years.
And according to one substack article making waves this past week, $150 grand ain't what it used to be.
When people see influencers and the like flaunting their "wealth" online and in the media, that old envy gene rears its ugly head, and screams: " not fair, I deserve that too!"
The college premium is still there for STEM grads, not for most humanities/ indoctrination degrees.
Plus, the many decades of partisan, anti-Republican hiring & promotion ensures continued partisanship of all top colleges (top 100 based on endowment, or endowment per student).
As Kling says, the colleges should be teaching how to use AI. Teachers should be using it more, too.
The discontent is global, so it cannot be about US specific reasons alone (i.e., college tuition). Germany's schools and colleges are free and people are at least as dissatisfied as Americans. Inflation or affordability is definitely a topic but discontent also exists in places with low inflation (e.g. Italy). And even countries with high economic growth see discontent, such as Spain. My guess is that it's a mix of a) unrealistic expectations and overpromising politicians and b) a constant drip of negative media headlines. People don't actually read much, so they are very influenced by the negative click-bait that's pervasive in media today (traditional and social media)
Ｗｈａｔｓａｐｐ➕𝟭↡𝟱𝟭𝟴↡𝟱𝟭𝟮↡𝟭𝟱𝟴𝟬
I'd say things were better off in the later 90s financially than today. Housing and healthcare were far less expensive letting me put more money into savings and the stock market. The federal debt was projected as balanced. The country wasn't divisive , the Internet had its nascent naivety, social media was non-existent, and I was younger (🤣).
“Things” - meaning vibes and sense of well being, security, etc, - might have been better in the 90s, but objectively on an economic basis they are much better today.
Even considering every working taxpayer is on the hook for $350,000 to pay off the federal debt ($150,000 per citizen)? If you're judging wealth by asset appreciation ---stocks, housing, crypto,etc.---those are in bubbles and can all readily change.
FYI your math is off. The numbers are more like $87K per citizen today.
And you neglect that U.S. collective assets exceed the debt by many times.
I’m not arguing that the debt is a good thing or nothing to worry about. But it’s not quite the doom you and many others suggest.
I suggest you listen to their excellent Marginal Revolution podcast to get a better handle on this:
https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2025/12/the-mr-podcast-debt.html
Yes, even considering that.
I judge wealth by living standards primarily.
Yes, if the anti-abundance types on the left succeed in killing economic growth, or if politicians don’t heed the signals whenever the debt markets tell them they need to cut spending, it could be at risk.
I ain’t defending our deficits and debt, but objectively we are still much better off today.
If, I’ll acknowledge, not by quite as much as it looks like given current levels of debt.
Ｗｈａｔｓａｐｐ➕𝟭↡𝟱𝟭𝟴↡𝟱𝟭𝟮↡𝟭𝟱𝟴𝟬
A Bachelors Degree now is equivalent of a high school diploma around 1950. Not everyone has one, but enough the premium is collapsing.
Ｗｈａｔｓａｐｐ➕𝟭↡𝟱𝟭𝟴↡𝟱𝟭𝟮↡𝟭𝟱𝟴𝟬
Assuming real college requires at a minimum an IQ one stardard deviation above normal, that means 15% of the population meets the minimum requirement. If almost 40% (2022 census indicates 37.7%) of the population have a college degree, and the 2022 census indicates 15% completed some college but did not get a degree, that means about 53% of the population is being accepted by a college, thus colleges are now accepting students with below average IQ.
Ｗｈａｔｓａｐｐ➕𝟭↡𝟱𝟭𝟴↡𝟱𝟭𝟮↡𝟭𝟱𝟴𝟬
“It could also be that while the upper-middle class has grown and is better off in many ways, the very rich got much, much richer—and this makes the economy feel more zero-sum to people striving for success,”
Well, anything “could be”, sure.
But in fact it is much more likely that Tenth Commandment-breaking politics of envy is fueling this particular “vibe”.
Not to mention the daily reinforcement of same by the leftist MSM.
Yes, I know this is redundant.
Tactically, see Dr. Kling for government's revealed purpose of "restricting supply, while subsidizing demand," thereby driving up prices presumably. Unaffordable housing, ineffective and inefficient education, bankrupting healthcare costs, and federal deficits would seem to be related.
Gramm et al. (2022) showed equal incomes for the bottom 3 quintiles after taxes and transfers, so to what extent has this thinned out the middle class as insiders make a bundle and outsiders drop out of the labor force?
Strategically, surely the issue of our times is the decline in fertility to significantly below replacement. Kearney & Levine's (2025) NBER report reviewing possible causes will make for interesting reading when I get to it. Somehow, it's hard to reconcile being "better off" with dwindling numbers of grandchildren.
Ｗｈａｔｓａｐｐ➕𝟭↡𝟱𝟭𝟴↡𝟱𝟭𝟮↡𝟭𝟱𝟴𝟬
"So why do people feel like the economy isn’t working for them?"
Because if you break this out by age cohort, there is a massive cleavage between the old and the young.
"Some of it is legitimate affordability issues: health care, education, and housing do cost much more."
Ya think?
Housing prices, inflated by decades of limiting supply, have generated fantastic wealth for people who bought decades ago. As an empty nester, I benefited from this beyond my wildest dreams.
You can't blow off housing costs eating up 45% of a family's income, leaving little else for life's little niceties.
Health insurance for a family of four constrains retained income, making it hard to save.
Food banks seem to have become a major growth industry in the past few years.
And according to one substack article making waves this past week, $150 grand ain't what it used to be.
Ｗｈａｔｓａｐｐ➕𝟭↡𝟱𝟭𝟴↡𝟱𝟭𝟮↡𝟭𝟱𝟴𝟬
When people see influencers and the like flaunting their "wealth" online and in the media, that old envy gene rears its ugly head, and screams: " not fair, I deserve that too!"
The college premium is still there for STEM grads, not for most humanities/ indoctrination degrees.
Plus, the many decades of partisan, anti-Republican hiring & promotion ensures continued partisanship of all top colleges (top 100 based on endowment, or endowment per student).
As Kling says, the colleges should be teaching how to use AI. Teachers should be using it more, too.