A continual point of debate is whether the front-page economic indicators tell the whole story about the welfare of the population. The US lags behind many countries in areas such as life expectancy, infant mortality, maternal mortality, health care, suicide, motor vehicle deaths, violent crime, and so forth. We have lots of money, but our money doesn't seem to buy us as much quality of life. I say these things, though I'm doing OK money wise and have an otherwise decent lifestyle.

The disparity between the big indicators and the lives of the people is in fact a source of political contention. In 2024, people were angry in a "growing" economy that seemed to have gotten inflation and unemployment under control.