This is because the idea of economy has been highjacked by armchair capitalists. The economy has almost nothing to do with the average person's quality of life

This is because the idea of economy has been highjacked by armchair capitalists. The economy has almost nothing to do with the average person's quality of life. We've completely lost the plot. That's why a country like the US can have such an insane GDP and GDP per capita and have comparatively much lower quality of life than countries with worse economies. When people say the economy is bad, they mean the things that actually matter. When economists say the economy is good, they're speaking of some theoretical economy nobody can see. They're speaking of numbers on a screen, that don't go into your pocket. That's where the discrepancy comes from.