My guess is probably economic outcomes are sufficiently varied in an unequal society that lots of people truly report "I feel bad about my prospects right now" quite consistent with markers of general prosperity rising. Especially given that the inequality per se is humiliating and frustrating.

April 12, 2026 - 11:52 UTC

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i remember matt bruenig using some data to show that a really substantial minority is objectively worse off year to year because of churn etc at some point
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(i agree with your whole thread)
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Especially because we tend to voice complaints, but just enjoy improvements.
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My anecdotal experience is that I have more disposable income than ever, but FEEL worse--probably due to increasing sense of precarity/uncertainty coupled with the job market being in a weird stagnant place (both of which I think are "real" but idk maybe they are also vibes).
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If something becomes more abundant then the relative price of everything else rises. For many of us fortunate the basics like food and clothing barely register in our concern. But land, our own and others’ time, and above all social esteem remain in fixed supply and become ever more precious.
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However, people are not good at intuitive sociology or economics, so have a tendency to say things like "Everyone is suffering right now!" on the basis of how they and their immediate social circle are doing, and those things are not consistent with general markers of prosperity rising.
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But this is the problem with what you’re saying, and the Panglosses. It’s not the actual economics of it but the intuitions that matter. Inequality, and hyper exposure to it, yes, but also teleological quality of our economic life. People have always understood owning a home, not cheaper dishwashers
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I've seen enough demonstrations of what can be drawn out of the same statistics to point out that even with the stats we don't know what the numbers are actually telling us.
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We end up in fights because one set of people feel the need to correct the latter sort of error, but this is then felt to be a denial of the former realities by another set of people.
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I haven’t seen the discourse that kicked this off, but during the last round of vibecession discourse, they simply ignored indicators like the poverty rate and real income (not wages), where the reporting lags. The official real wages data is weekly but poverty and income are annual. So/
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also sometimes they misinterpret or misrepresent how they and theirs are doing
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The issue is that when you look at polling its the opposite that people keep saying over and over again. They are personally doing fine or great, but the general economic outlook is consumer confidence is low
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I wonder if a lot of people’s feelings come down to the fact that maybe you are making more but everyone is one job loss away from the ACA, and inflation has made that prospect much scarier. Real wages went up but the sense of precariousness worsened.
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Best I can tell, all the Vibecession stuff links to Consumer Sentiment/Confidence.

That, in turn, relates to a whole bunch of economic things ... that mostly don't involve wage growth but instead Unemployment (not a current factor) and Inflation/expectations (def a factor).
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I would like to see a study comparing how well people feel about their own prospects and how many influencer posts they are exposed to.
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A chart of rising median wages doesn't tell you anything about affordability. Yes I earn more in real terms than someone in 1990. But if bills or housing has accelerated faster than inflation things could be much less affordable. Medians also tell you nothing about the top and bottom tranches
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Aye but often in these discussions it will turn out that by many measures of affordability many things are also growing more affordable, it's not just the markers of general prosperity people latching on to one unusual stat or something.
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A question I wonder a lot is would Americans accept a trade off of lower inequality and better social safety net but also a lower median standard of living as in much of continental Europe. Despite protestations to the contrary, I suspect most would not make that trade
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Median income is lower Europe than in America. standard of living is less clear (depends of what index you look). Either way, maybe most Americans would not make the trade, but also my impression is that most Europeans wouldn't trade themselves for Americans.
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Our median standard of living isn't as high as you think it is. You just never see how our poor and middle class (actually also poor) people live.
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A huge blackpill moment for me as a guy who straddles the Atlantic was when a whole group of Bernie 2020 people I am friends with earning ~$100k were aghast that *they* would have to pay a lot in extra tax to get Medicare for All
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Unlikely that most would make the trade, but maybe we could keep it if we got the opportunity to have people try it for a few years
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you think the standard of living in America is higher than in Europe? lmao i have a fucking bridge to sell you
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Its good then that we dont really even need to make that trade!
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There's a ton of social permission involved in how ppl understand their own experiences also. When does an extended unemployment or failed business stop being a private shame and start being part of a broader cultural phenomenon?
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