Jonathan Levin, Columnist

The Worst Good Economy Ever

The macroeconomic data is still pretty strong, but Americans aren’t thrilled. Blame inflation and AI.

September 2, 2025 at 9:35 PM UTC

Jonathan Levin is a columnist focused on US markets and economics. Previously, he worked as a Bloomberg journalist in the US, Brazil and Mexico. He is a CFA charterholder.

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I’m Jonathan Levin, and this is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a compendium of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. You may not like this newsletter on an emotional level, but conventional statistics indicate that it is very good. Sign up here.

The US economy is still in pretty good shape. The unemployment rate is low and gross domestic product expanded at a 3.3% percent annualized pace in the second quarter. Yet Americans don’t exactly see it that way, and the nagging question is… why? Five years into an epic economic and stock market boom, why is everyone so negative?