MAKE IT MAKE SENSE: Is a middle-class life still possible?

In a new poll, people say they can no longer afford the American dream -- what does that mean for the future?

In today’s letter: What does it mean for the country if Americans think they can’t afford the future? We talked to economist Justin Wolfers to find out.

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The latest New York Times/Siena poll numbers are a sobering read. They’re so negative that Donald Trump is expanding his defamation lawsuit against the Times.

But the big problem in the numbers isn’t that 56 percent of those polled disapprove of Donald Trump’s handling of the country. It’s that the majority of Americans who consider themselves part of the middle class don’t feel they can stay that way.

Now, Trump doesn’t seem less worried about that than he is about his own reputation.

Shocking, right? But the problem isn’t so much the price of eggs. It’s the price of the future. We called University of Michigan economist Justin Wolfers to better understand what that means.