[jfengel]

"The economy" is at least two separate things.

One is the sum total of goods and services. Measuring it is always a bit dicey but the metrics are doing reasonably well.

The second is how much money people have, in terms of its ability to buy stuff. That can be subjective, especially when the objective measures are contradictory, as they are now.

Ideally the two would be somewhat correlated. When the first definition is doing great and the second isn't, people get cranky because their work isn't bringing them wealth and stability. That is a systemic problem that goes even beyond today's economy.