One of the most puzzling developments for economists in recent months is Rubypointthe disconnect between positive traditional economic data and how people say they feel negatively about the economy. Add to that, people's behavior tracks with what economists would normally expect for happy times. So what's going on?

Today on the show, we turn to something economists have tracked for decades called the misery index. Right now, it says America shouldn't be so miserable, but as we've covered before, surveys say otherwise. We identify five reasons that explain the disconnect.

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Americans don't like higher prices but they LOVE buying new things (Apple Podcasts / Spotify)

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