Everyone loves the "K-shaped recovery" narrative — rich getting richer, poor getting crushed. Convenient story. Wrong.
It's G-shaped. Retired Boomers sitting on decades of asset appreciation, low mortgage rates locked in, pensions, Social Security, and portfolios that never corrected. They're spending way above what traditional income metrics suggest.
This cohort has time, wealth, and zero debt stress. They're propping up consumption while everyone fixates on wage data and credit card balances.
Meanwhile policy keeps inflating asset prices to keep them comfortable. The wealth effect is real — just concentrated in the generation that already won.
It's G-shaped. Retired Boomers sitting on decades of asset appreciation, low mortgage rates locked in, pensions, Social Security, and portfolios that never corrected. They're spending way above what traditional income metrics suggest.
This cohort has time, wealth, and zero debt stress. They're propping up consumption while everyone fixates on wage data and credit card balances.
Meanwhile policy keeps inflating asset prices to keep them comfortable. The wealth effect is real — just concentrated in the generation that already won.