America’s Political Recession

New York Times editorial: “The economy is humming, and unemployment is at 4 percent. High-school graduation rates are at an all-time high, and teenage pregnancy rates are at an all-time low… And yet: Polls show that three in five Americans think the country is on the wrong track. A majority expect things to get worse in the coming year.”

“As President Trump prepares to deliver his delayed State of the Union address on Tuesday, he might want to ask himself why people are so unsettled.”

First Read: “You could argue that America has been in a political recession for a while — maybe going back to October 2013 (government shutdown, crash of the Obamacare website). But over the last two years, we’ve entered a political depression — when the overall state of the union is pretty strong.”