The American people will be in a funk until we fix the economy.
Americans are in a funk. Nearly two years into our economic recovery, nobody save the rich seems to be experiencing it. According to a New York Times/CBS News poll in April, Americans are more pessimistic about the economy than at anytime since the first two months of Barack Obama's presidency, when employment was falling like a stone.
Tens of millions of Americans believe that the American economy -- which was the marvel of the world and spawned the world's largest and most vibrant middle class -- isn't coming back. Confirmation of their pessimism is everywhere around them. Corporations are swimming in cash, but they're not rehiring workers or raising their pay. The share of Americans who are working continued to shrink in 2010 and is now at its lowest level since 1983. The share of working-age women in the workplace rose until 1995, when it hit a plateau. The share of working-age men who are employed has declined from 85 percent during the 1950s to 65 percent today.
In September, 2009 Atlantic Monthly named 
