Kerby Anderson

If you look at the American economy, you see a high and a low. The stock market is at a record high, while consumer sentiment is at the lowest ever measured. In fact, Americans feel worse about the economy than they did in 2008 during the great financial crisis and worse than they felt when locked in their houses during COVID.

Consumer sentiment just hit 44.8. To put that in perspective, the previous record low was 50, which occurred when the post-pandemic inflation was listed at 9.1 percent. We smashed through that number in a survey that has been taken since 1952.

One part of the American economy is high, while the other part is low. This is what many call a K-shaped economy. The upper leg of the K represents a growing economy for people who own tangible assets. The lower leg represents an economy that isn’t helping working Americans. Put simply, it is the difference between Wall Street and Main Street.

Here is a troubling fact from history. The last time we had such an economic divergence was in the year 1929. You know what came next.

I would like to be optimistic, but let’s look at the facts. We are living in a world that already has an inflation rate of 3.8 percent and are experiencing shortages of oil and other commodities because the Strait of Hormuz has been closed for months. Low-income Americans are maxing out their credit cards. One analyst documented that Americans spent more on lottery tickets than they spent on movies, books, concerts, and sports tickets.

The political theme of affordability is certain to resonate with American voters. You will likely see lots of ads and hear lots of politicians talk about it this year.