Why is the Public Concerned About the Economy?

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David Brooks does his usual analysis of the world and has a problem explaining why the public is upset with the direction of the country now that we are out of recession. Paul Krugman does his usual thing of explaining to David Brooks why his view of the economy is wrong. Krugman puts up a graph that shows that there have been disconnects between public sentiment and the economy. This was particularly true in the Bush administration. Public sentiment rose after 9/11 and after the fall of Bagdad despite a weak economy. He then puts up a couple of graphs which show that the increase in jobs is barely able to keep up with new entries into the labor force and that much of the decline in the unemployment rate is because there are more discouraged workers who have been unable to find jobs and have left the labor force. The unemployment rate falls when the number of discouraged workers rises since they are not counted in the labor force. He puts up a second slide that shows that the duration of those unemployed continues to rise well above levels in recent history. Put the rise in gas prices and continuing turmoil in the housing market on top of the unemployment analysis and Krugman concludes that the public has a reason to be concerned.