…Confidence in our political leaders and their own reporting on consumer sentiment. And I think that anyone looking at the situation has to say that while some of that may have to do with a lot of cultural issues, at least some of it has to do with the inflation we’ve been through, with the increase in interest rates that’s been necessary. And so I think we need to be very careful about giving policy any kind of buy given how the American people are expressing their own sentiments.

No question, things are more symmetric now than they were a year or a year and a half ago. Whatever economy patricians may think, the American people are very unhappy with the state of the economy. That's manifest in how they see confidence in institutions. Confidence in our…

— Lawrence H. Summers (@LHSummers) December 30, 2023

[In other words, this is elite code-speak meaning: the “people” aren’t falling for the “things are GREAT, YOU’RE not paying attention” banana-in-the-tailpipe trick, and y’all might want to rethink your messaging before you jack anything else up. I’d say unbelievable, but here we are. ~ Beege]