Whitney’s point about fragility really hits home. The data may look solid, but the foundation underneath is shaky — household debt, inflation, and weak wage growth.

When more than fifty percent of the population has the impression of experiencing a recession, it speaks volumes beyond what the official GDP or unemployment figures indicate.

This honestly doesn’t surprise me. When over half the country has already felt like they’ve been through a recession, that says a lot more than whatever the official GDP or unemployment numbers show. Meredith Whitney's take on the fragility of the economy makes sense—people might be working, but wages haven’t kept up, debt’s rising, and prices are still high. The "headline numbers" don't reflect what most households are really going through. Definitely going to give that interview a listen.