Economic Growth Outpaces Public Sentiment as Cryptocurrencies Remain Unmentioned
Consumer sentiment has plummeted to its lowest level since 2014, according to The Conference Board, despite economists' Optimism about robust GDP growth. The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta projects a 5.4% annualized expansion in Q4—the fastest since the pandemic recovery—yet a stark disconnect persists between macroeconomic data and public perception.
Bernard Yaros of Oxford Economics notes this anomaly: "Consumer sentiment has become unusually divorced from the macroeconomy since the pandemic." The resilience of consumer spending, typically a reliable indicator, fails to align with prevailing economic unease. This divergence challenges traditional forecasting models that rely on sentiment surveys to predict consumption trends.