> But pretty much every economic indicator is positive. Even the indicators that pessimistic pundits like to complain about are largely from areas where wages have been stagnant, or inequality has been rising rather than genuine decline.

I am going to take issue with this one; because as standards rise, the more unachievable they can become.

Example: 100 years ago, it wasn’t nearly as hard to buy a house. Sure, they might have had leaky roofs or lacked electricity or lacked indoor plumbing, but that was pretty normal. Your wife wasn’t going to lose her mind if you told her the outhouse was the only option.

Now here we are. Sure, our homes are way better - and more unaffordable for everyone. Just saying it’s better than it was - so stop being so pessimistic ignores how comparatively out of reach life feels.

It would be like if the only computer you could buy in 2027 was $8000, and had the equivalent of a RTX 7090 in it. “Stop whining - it’s so much better than they used to be” is not my complaint.