Last week, America was told inflation is better. Also worse. Also, by Friday, core consumer prices came in hot and consumer sentiment fell off a cliff—which is a lot to hand somebody just days before they decide on interest rates.

Last week, America continued its situationship with the economy: lots of mixed signals, no definitions, with no idea where this is headed.

Last week, America looked at the economy and thought, “Seems straightforward enough.” Strong earnings, healthy hiring and record highs were the easy part. The deeper you looked, the weirder and more technical the story became.

Last week, America learned that a Fed staffer pointed out investors are receiving remarkably little extra compensation for owning stocks instead of bonds, and everyone immediately went back to talking about inflation. Very normal. Very fine.