A ccording to Americans, it is bad out there. Real bad. This month, the University of Michigan’s index of consumer sentiment dropped to its lowest point since 1952, when the survey started. A poll of potential Republican voters found that just 43 percent rated the economy as “excellent” or “good” and 55 percent as “fair” or “poor”; for potential Democratic voters, the shares were 5 percent and 94 percent, respectively. Low-income families are nervous , and so are high-income ones. Students and