it looks better because (1) we (in the US) borrowed $6T+ against the future and injected that into the present, with inflation stayed only because the dollar is

it looks better because (1) we (in the US) borrowed $6T+ against the future and injected that into the present, with inflation stayed only because the dollar is the international currency (for now) and (2) capital has nowhere to go but into (existing) equities, financial maneuvers, and real estate. it's hard to erode/inflate away more than $6T, even for an economy as misallocated as ours when you have those two features going for you. i don't think it will be stable long term, but it's been a slow boiling of us largely oblivious amphibians. the froth of unrest we've seen here and there in the last decade is pockets of us frogs realizing something is wrong, but we haven't reached that 25% awareness/action threshold to unlodge us toward a new equilibrium.