> It doesn't matter if GDP is positive and inflation is good right now if everyone thinks we are in a recession and the prices of everything are too damn high.

> It doesn't matter if GDP is positive and inflation is good right now if everyone thinks we are in a recession and the prices of everything are too damn high. You will get voted out. I'm not sure why this is a hard concept to grasp. Because they're two different concepts. Public sentiment is generally a lagging indicator on the economy. People will think we're still in a high even after the economy has started to falter. And people will still think times are bad even after the economy starts to come back. You are correct that public sentiment is on what people vote. That doesn't mean they are accurately assessing the economy.