Are American voters actually gloomy about the economy?

Polling is looking grim for Republicans ahead of the U.S. midterm elections on November 3, due in large part to deep pessimism among the public about the economy. At first glance, this might seem surprising. With the exception of inflation, many economic measures remain strong, including gross domestic product growth. But consumer sentiment continues to languish. This has prompted a debate over whether mere “vibes” are in play, or whether these long-used metrics are no longer capturing som...