The unhappiness of American consumers despite rapid job and economic growth in the past few years is a hotly debated topic. Is it inflation? High borrowing costs for homes and automobiles? Crowded airports and packed airplanes?

For better or worse, unmistakable signs of an economic slowdown will now give us the opportunity to test how consumers feel in a different environment. For the time being, there are reasons to believe consumers will welcome a slower-growth environment and some of the benefits that come with it. In Goldilocks parlance, perhaps the economy in 2022 and most of 2023 was too hot and 2024 will be “just right.”