In September, American households grew quieter in their confidence, registering a measurable retreat in the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index even as the broader economy sent mixed signals. Alongside that dimming outlook, expectations for future inflation climbed — a pairing that speaks to something older than any single data point: the way ordinary people absorb the cumulative weight of rising costs, uncertain wages, and the ambient noise of economic anxiety. When the people who drive two-thirds of a nation's economic activity begin to brace rather than stride, the ripple reac