"..It is hard to make sense of economic news in the best of times. These are not the best of times. Much of the "good" news pertains to a relatively small cross section of the US. Much of the "bad" news involves reporting on widely suffered pain. Housing market numbers perfectly illustrate this. We have been told for 4 months that we have/are turning the corner. Asset markets have been soaring. Spirits have clearly been lifted for many. The problem remains that improvement has been heavily concentrated in the upper tiers of the economy. These folks are over-represented in the media and public consciousness. Our celebrity worship, athlete obsession and overwhelming disinterest in real people's material conditions all speak to this. The bottom 80% of Americans are suffering, their children are suffering. People's lives and conditions are not getting better. Sooner or later, this produces disaster. The divergence of fortunes was a significant cause of the great crash from 2007-2009.."