Why Are Americans So Pessimistic?

It’s the end of the year which is a great time for reflection and as someone who covers business, finance and the economy, mainly from America it looks like we have a lot to be grateful for. The USA is the largest economy in the world, and over the last five years it’s just pulled further ahead of its only real rival, China, which has… not been having a great time… Per person that means the only countries in the world with higher outputs are either oil states, tax havens or tax haven oil states. Unemployment is low, inflation is (supposedly) under control, interest rates are coming down and markets are booming… But despite all of this… general consumer confidence is still around all time lows… I am 100% guilty of being a little bit of a gloomy goose as well, this year the closest thing to a good news story I covered, was a celebration that at least we weren't Canada… So if everything is so great… why are Americans always so pessimistic?