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I've lived through four major recessions since I knew about such things.  This isn't one (yet).  I think the economy is in OK shape.  I didn't think it was somehow great under Trump, it basically carried on as it was doing under Obama until COVID hit.  GDP growth is obviously one important metric, and it's doing decently well.  You wouldn't see the stock market where it is in a real recession.  I don't think construction around where we live would be as it is in a recession, and these are developers building now in expectation that things 2-3 years out will still be decent.  I'm even seeing new Class A office space being built (which puzzles me).

Partisans will say if our guy is elected, everything will be grand, and if the other guys is elected, it will be a complete catastrophe.  That's just partisan speech to me, I ignore it.

working from home

There are liberals who think the economy is bad today. Particularly those who would like to buy a home (like my brother).

We have a housing shortage, especially affordable housing.

A lot of millennials are pretty sour right now. Gen Z is numb.

Hmmm, that's interesting. I've never thought the inability to buy homes was the sign of a "bad" economy. In fact, I've usually felt the opposite. 

I do wonder how much of it long term is the result of policies that try to help non-homeowners while also catering to the wants of homeowners/property owners, i.e. injecting cash to try to avoid dips in property value. I also wonder if there's a workaround that doesn't involve someone taking a bath, and in the end who is forced to take that bath. 

Transitional items like shopping malls suffering are not to me a sign of a poor economy, same with office space vacancy rates.

I don't see a "government" solution to the housing shortages.  I think when/if interest rates drop back to 4% or so, it will start to alleviate.

It's very low. The shopping malls (and even some strip malls) are suffering, and/or going away.

The large mall North from us is converting to affordable residential. The Grand Avenue Mall in Milwaukee is doing the same.

Many, many examples.

Anchor Stores like Bloomies and Macy's are teetering. Sears and Carson's are gone. JCP is close. Without anchors, malls can't make it.

Yeah, one of the malls near us was recently bulldozed. For a while they were talking about transforming it, but it would still be a primarily restaurant / retail plan. A couple years back they drastically reduced the retail portion, increasing the amount planned for office/residential spaces. 

That was always one of the weaker malls in the area, but I can say a slightly more ritzy mall also nearby seems to have pretty weak foot traffic any time I've headed that way. 

Malls are dying. Online shopping has really hurt them. Even now, I find my wife semi-frequently goes to the mall--but only because that's the brick & mortar location to return something she bought online and didn't fit or she didn't like. She doesn't actually go shopping there. 

We have a couple that are still healthy. But generally they either have significant restaurant / nightlife options to draw people, or [in one case] is very high end shops that probably don't easily lend themselves to online shopping (i.e. Louis Vuitton, BVLGARI, Jimmy Choo, and a bunch of ones I can't recognize because I'm not a fashionista). 

That said, I'm not sure we can look at the health of malls as a proxy for "the economy". It's not necessarily that people aren't spending, they're just changing the mode of spending to more online and less physical retail. I would think overall consumer spending is the more relevant metric. 

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Biden's family trying to get more involved in campaign as long-simmering tensions with aides spill out (cnbc.com)
Biden's family trying to get more involved in campaign as long-simmering tensions with aides spill out (cnbc.com)

“I believe the family has witnessed blunder after blunder by key staff personnel and the debate is likely the straw that broke the camel’s back,” the source said. “Post-debate, the supposed loyal staff, instead of taking responsibility, pointed the finger back at the president and said: ‘His fault.’ I can think of no other singular action that would agitate the Biden family more.” 

The bigger concern now among some of Biden’s inner circle is that the kind of disagreements among them that had long been resolved internally risk playing out in public as pressure on the president mounts. Family conversations have largely centered on how to continue to support the president moving forward, five sources familiar with the matter said.