My mother was wrong

The problem with “everything works out in the end” reassurance

When I was young and frustrated about one thing or another, my mother reassured me that “everything works out in the end.”

The saying drove me nuts. “When is the end?” I’d ask her. “Next week? Next year? In a century? Do we just wait?”

Optimistic forecasts about anything often overlook damage that can occur in the meantime.

The famed British economist Joh…