Inflation adjusted gas prices are pretty much average over last 25 years or so (and lower than they ever been in 2005-2014 outside of about 9 months' recession).
Inflation adjusted house prices are lower than 25 year average, and about as low as during early covid bottom. And housing affordability is almost best in history, with a few short stretches in late 1990s being better.
US debt load is by far lowest in history (or at least ever since reliable tracking appeared around 1963), for every dollar in debt Americans hold 8 dollars in assets. If you force people to pay all of their debt, at once (which is impossible), it won't cause a domino effect. Government debt? US is not a socialist country. Government can go to hell. And, all branches of government together are only slightly in red vs assets they hold. And debt to GDP is stabe in the last 5 years, last was the covid jump, which by now is about half undone.
Also, and here is a major thing that never existed before, consumption is now to a large degree disconnected from employment. Almost half of consumption is funded by capital, not labor. So potential for vicious cycle where people lose jobs, consume less, companies lose revenue, lay off people, and more people lose jobs, rinse and repeat, is now weaker than ever before - it is not impossible, but less likely. I think we underappreciate how valuable for economy this is. Domination of employment-derived consumption in the past has been a persistent source of instability.
So social negativity we observe is all just vibes, magnified by social media to stir the crowd. There is no money to make by making people feel happy - they click much harder if they are angry or frightened.
Sure there is a problem about a segment of population feeling displaced/irrelevant, but this is mostly a public messaging, and to a smaller extent, law enforcement problem.
Since serious crime is also at all-times low, i doubt it can escalate into something serious.
Inflation adjusted house prices are lower than 25 year average, and about as low as during early covid bottom. And housing affordability is almost best in history, with a few short stretches in late 1990s being better.
US debt load is by far lowest in history (or at least ever since reliable tracking appeared around 1963), for every dollar in debt Americans hold 8 dollars in assets. If you force people to pay all of their debt, at once (which is impossible), it won't cause a domino effect. Government debt? US is not a socialist country. Government can go to hell. And, all branches of government together are only slightly in red vs assets they hold. And debt to GDP is stabe in the last 5 years, last was the covid jump, which by now is about half undone.
Also, and here is a major thing that never existed before, consumption is now to a large degree disconnected from employment. Almost half of consumption is funded by capital, not labor. So potential for vicious cycle where people lose jobs, consume less, companies lose revenue, lay off people, and more people lose jobs, rinse and repeat, is now weaker than ever before - it is not impossible, but less likely. I think we underappreciate how valuable for economy this is. Domination of employment-derived consumption in the past has been a persistent source of instability.
So social negativity we observe is all just vibes, magnified by social media to stir the crowd. There is no money to make by making people feel happy - they click much harder if they are angry or frightened.
Sure there is a problem about a segment of population feeling displaced/irrelevant, but this is mostly a public messaging, and to a smaller extent, law enforcement problem.
Since serious crime is also at all-times low, i doubt it can escalate into something serious.