Most people are just lazy, intellectually. They don't spend much time thinking about how things fit together. That allows con men like Donald Trump (and much of the Republican party) to make stupid, baseless - but simple - arguments that resonate "if you don't think about it." That last point is the key.
For example, "Are you better off today than 4 years ago?" Well, s***, yeah. Four years ago we were in the middle of a global pandemic that killed millions of people and was incompetently managed by Trump so badly that the economy nearly crashed. Instead, they focus on things like inflation (which was largely boosted by a global shortage of materials). But, if you look at the metrics, Joe Biden has handled it so marvelously we are
again the envy of the world. Highest employment rate outside of Japan; lowest inflation rate; GDP growth; Per Capita income; fuel prices; crime rate; wage growth, pick a category.
Why the US economy is doing so much better than the rest of the world (CNN)
Unless one bothers to look at "comparators", and most don't, they don't realize how well we are doing - and what would have happened otherwise.
