For the past year the most common topic whenever I go to any conference or meetup has always been that the economy sucks and that economists have no idea what they're talking about. I hardly know anyone under 65 who is particularly well; certainly not in comparison to even 2 years ago. Many people who used to be financially secure are in much more precarious situations now.

It's not just anecdotal. I see it at a large scale too. I'm at a top-ranked university and I see it in our students. 2 years ago, they were choosing between multiple job offers and hardly had to apply anywhere. Now, students with CS undergrads or Master's degrees from a university whose name everyone knows where virtually everyone used to get FAANG offers are now having trouble getting reasonable jobs.

As a scientist I find the attitude of my colleagues in the economics department totally insane. They claim that we're all wrong and that the economy is amazing. They say that to me and to students who literally apply for dozens of jobs; they say it to our faces. In my neck of the scientific woods we would be publishing papers about how our metrics are totally wrong and we need to reform our science because we're disconnected from reality. In economics it seems like they publish papers about how stupid the public are. It's just crazy.

All of this doesn't bode well for the election. I can't describe the lack of enthusiasm students have for Biden when they're literally hurting financially and he's doing a victory lap on how great the economy is.