I'm not sure how old you are, but I've seen a few administrations that were real economic failures. Carter's, for just one.

The Left's primary route to power has always been to convince the "working man" (the definition moves around a lot) that he is getting a raw deal, that he is condemned to poverty (the definition of this moves around a lot, too), and if only he'd sign over his life to the government, they'll take the loot from the rich bad guys and pass it around. This is pretty much the entire foundation of the Democratic Party.

Of course, in reality, life has never been better for the vast majority of Americans, even now.

This article is instructive.