Some top economists are anticipating a recession. And while a certain degree of such economic criticism can be understood as partisan, both on the part of academics and consumers, statements from the Federal Reserve chairman reflect a more cautionary outlook.
However, for regular Americans who are politically independent and make around or below median income, the status of the economy is a much less important question than long-running trends of economic well-being. From the perspective of most Americans, either a recession is coming or has already started, because the running consensus for normal people is that the economy is bad —and maybe more importantly, has been bad for a while.
