Like, part of why you have a great depression is that during the 20s there's zany techno-optimism, not unreasonably. Because you have cheap combustion engines, widespread electrification, the rise of movies, radio, airplanes, telephones, etc. It all happens rapidly.

So, someone like me in the 1930s would've been saying "wow! productivity is off the wall right now!" And (apparently) pissing people off because of course the 1930s are a bad economic time, in the sense of joblessness, low wages, etc.

To me, a stat is just a stat, not a statement about anybody or even the overall picture in the short-term. But there's also a clear link between the productivity bump that starts then and the giant jump in wealth and well-being that kicks off in the late 40s.

And note that these things aren't about who's president, although the president can affect things somewhat. To me, productivity growth isn't a statement about the government, or the state of the world or whatever. It's about long-term potential.

Like I'm extremely pessimistic about a lot of stuff happening right now, but some of the most optimistic stuff on Earth right now is broad macro stats. And, tbh, I worry undue pessimism hurts the case for some of my deeper beliefs, e.g. free trade and immigration.

Like, if you genuinely think the last 50 years were an economic catastrophe, the case for these things is much harder. But, with plenty of caveats, most people on Earth are much better off than then. Part of why the US is trying to close up is the belief that things are bad and someone did it to us.