Skip to content
The Hidden Force Dragging Down Consumer Sentiment | Diving In episode artwork

Oct 12, 2026 19 min

The Hidden Force Dragging Down Consumer Sentiment | Diving In

from Think Like An Economist

Americans feel almost exactly as gloomy today as they did in 1980 — when inflation was near 14% and unemployment was close to 8%. Today those numbers are a fraction of that, yet consumer sentiment hit an all-time low. Justin Wolfers treats this like a detective case: the standard economic statistics predict sentiment should sit around 82, but the actual reading is 52 — a 30-point gap begging for an explanation. Subscribe: on YouTube 👉 https://youtube.com/platypuseconomics on Substack 👉 https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.com the Podcast 👉 https://platypuseconomics.com/podcast Follow on Social Media @PlatypusEconomics and @JustinWolfers

Episode details come from the podcast's RSS feed.

Embed this episode

Ready to play

The Hidden Force Dragging Down Consumer Sentiment | Diving In

0:00 19:45

No transcript yet.

Requests help us decide what to transcribe next.

Frequently asked questions

How long is this episode of Think Like An Economist?

This episode is 19 minutes long.

When was this Think Like An Economist episode published?

This episode was published on October 12, 2026.

Can I download this Think Like An Economist episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.