'Americans are deeply pessimistic'

'Why is pessimism worse than at times when the economy was objectively worse?'

Claudia Sahm at Bloomberg

"The economy is strong," says Claudia Sahm at Bloomberg. Consumer spending jumped 4% last quarter. Real net worth skyrocketed from 2019 to 2022. But polls show far more Americans are "expecting the economy to be worse in the next five years than better." Why are people gloomier than "when the economy was objectively worse, like in the 1970s and early 1980s?" Blame social media. Negative posts amplify "bad news over good news," resulting in "amped-up pessimism."

Read more

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

'Biden's numbers now resemble Hillary's from 2016'

J.T. Young in the Washington Examiner

President Biden's likely 2024 race against former President Donald Trump is looking like "a rehash," says J.T. Young in the Washington Examiner. Not of Biden's victory over Trump in 2020. It's looking more like Trump's win over Hillary Clinton in 2016. Thanks to economic and foreign policy failures, like the Afghanistan withdrawal, "Biden has dug himself into a Hillary Clinton-sized pit in just three years." The question is, can he "dig himself out?"

Read more

'Transform the rhetoric of birth equity into a tangible reality'

Jeanine Valrie Logan in USA Today

Birth equity — access to "optimal conditions" for all soon-to-be moms — "remains an unattained goal for Black women and birthing people," says Jeanine Valrie Logan in USA Today. Black women "are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than white women." Increasing the number of Black midwives would help reduce the "systemic disregard for Black lives" that allows this to happen, and make birth equity a reality, instead of an empty promise. 

Read more

'In our moment of need, Jews feel alone'

Dana Milbank in The Washington Post

"This is a frightening time to be a progressive Jew in America," says Dana Milbank in The Washington Post. Hamas' massacre of 1,400 Israelis ignited a conflict that "has inspired a wave of antisemitism around the world and, most painfully," in the United States. Progressive Jews are caught between far-left pro-Palestinians "who glorify murderers" and right-wingers who "defend even Israel's most egregious policies," like "reckless" settlements on Palestinian land. Louder support from "our friends" would help.

Read more