We are hopeful for our future. But the future? Not so much.

The Ipsos Consumer Tracker asks Americans questions about culture, the economy and the forces that shape our lives. Here's one thing we learned this week.

Why we asked: It’s been a year since we last checked in on our outlook on a range of important financial and geopolitical events.  

What we found: For the most part, we are just as hopeful now as we were a year ago that, say, the war in Ukraine would end (it still hasn’t) or interest rates will decline (yeah, still no) but about 55% hope each will happen in the next year. As a Cubs fan, the idea of “wait ‘til next year” is a very real thing. It’s the kind of delusion you need in order to keep yourself going in the face of a century of futility. Perhaps that should be the name for this particular flavor of optimism, “Cubsian.” We also have the strongest Cubsian optimism about our personal financial situation which three in four think will improve. Looking at last year at this time, we are eight points more hopeful about avoiding a recession, we’re slightly less hopeful that AI will be a positive influence. This wave we added a statement about the war between Israel and Hamas which people are just as hopeful (56%) will end as they are the Ukrainian conflict.

And it says a lot in this election year that the thing we are least hopeful about is that U.S. political partisanship will decline. That’s the only item “not hopeful” outranks “hopeful.” That said, we are slightly more positive on this front than a year ago.

[SEE MORE IN IPSOS TOP TOPICS: “ECONOMY AND CONSUMER SPENDING”]

More insights from this wave of the Ipsos Consumer Tracker:

The Ipsos Care-o-Meter: What does America know about vs. what does America care about?