As events have unfolded during the past year and a half, a growing number of people have asked me what I think of the economy. I’ve learned two things from these encounters. First, questioners seem to want sound-bite answers. Incisive and extended answers can cause their eyes to quickly glaze over. Second, I’ve realized that what the questioners often want is not so much analysis as therapy–economic therapy, comforting interpretations of events and data that can help to ease their inner sense of dread.

This is from Richard McKenzie, “Economic Therapy: Comforting Pointers for Turbulent Times.” McKenzie is co-author, with Dwight Lee, of Getting Rich in America: Eight Simple Rules for Building a Fortune and a Satisfying Life. In my review of their book in the Wall Street Journal, I called it “the how-to handbook for becoming the millionaire next door.”