S8 Ep155: PREVIEW — Elizabeth Peek — The Economic Conundrum: Strong Spending, Low Confidence. Peek analyzes the apparent economic contradiction wherein strong GDP growth and robust retail spending met

PREVIEW — Elizabeth Peek — The Economic Conundrum: Strong Spending, Low Confidence. Peek analyzes the apparent economic contradiction wherein strong GDP growth and robust retail spending metrics coexist with persistently low consumer confidence and widespread economic pessimism. Peek attributes this paradoxical dynamic to acute affordability crises affecting substantial population cohorts and a deteriorating labor market characterized by declining hiring, wage stagnation relative to inflation, and employment insecurity. Peek characterizes this bifurcated economic experience as a "K-shaped economy," wherein stock market gains and asset appreciation benefit relatively privileged populations, while widespread financial anxiety, housing unaffordability, and discretionary spending constraints generate diffuse economic distress among middle and working-class populations. 1890 HARLEM HEIGHTS