Economist = an out of touch person who studies wealth while ignoring power. Americans aren't stupid, they see that the gains don't keep up with the loses, they know the economy is built on an unstable pile of unpayable debt. Sure the economy is doing great, even the homeless are working. When all money is created as interest-bearing debt recession/depression is built into the system. note the gray bands in the FRED's graphs, the system crashes every 10 years or so. When loan payments (money destroyed) exceed loans being made (money created) the system crashes. Those who own the system don't mind because when that happens they can pick up the collateral on the defaulting loans for pennies on the collar. The monetary system is a usurious scam owned by those dictating the destruction of the world. And purchasing power is at an all time low, its been going down ever since 1913. It may be that none of the economists tool's are adequate for learning anything about how the economy works. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CUUR0000SA0R# monetaryalliance.org