In the second half of the prior decade, people were feeling really good about life and the economy. This may explain a big part of the popularity of the presumptive GOP candidate these days. The Consumer Sentiment number tended to hang out around 100.
These days? Not so much. Indeed, observe how in recent months almost every true number is less than the anticipated number. Friday morning’s report, for example, expected a level of 72.1 (which itself is clearly well below the triple-digit zone of years past) but instead came in at a walloping 65.6:
There are plenty of reasons for the widespread malaise, I’m sure, including, I suspect, the fact that as a nation we’ve all gone more or less insane.
