Sometimes I have to remind myself how good we Americans have it because—let's face it—there is a lot of bad news out there, particularly on the economics front.

Inflation, which hit 8.5 percent in March, gets the most attention, and rightly so. Less attention has been given to financial markets. The Nasdaq just had its worst month since 2008 (the year of the financial meltdown). The S&P 500, meanwhile, is having its worst start to a year since the Great Depression.

And then there's food and energy prices. There's no way to sugarcoat the data—which is a shame, because there's no place Americans feel the pinch more. (We all eat and use energy.)