This is Planet Money from NPR.

We tend to think of economists as cold, hard, dismal scientists, but once a month, economists

pick up the phone to just check in with us.

How are we feeling?

Like, good, bad, worse than a year ago?

It is a very specific phone call with very specific questions, and a few years ago, we

looked into the origins of all of this.

We're going to play that episode for you now, and we're going to have an update at the

end.

Robert Smith and Stacey Vanick Smith take it from here.

Recently, I went to see a professional about my financial future.

My name is Lisa Farram.

I met a young woman at her office.

We sat down at a little desk.

There were some crystals.

Could I get you to introduce yourself?

Sure.

My name is Psychic Betsy, aka Betsy Cohen.

I'm a Psychic medium-intuitive development coach and teacher.

Now, this is not as crazy as it might sound.

A lot of Wall Street legends went to see psychics and astrologers.

Andrew Carnegie apparently had one on staff.

...