Baby Boomers

Retiring Baby Boomers & The G-Shaped Economy

May 26, 2026 5 min read paid

Many economists continue to question the resilience of consumer spending in the US. The naysayers don't believe it's sustainable and continue to expect significant consumer retrenchment. They claim that the economy is "K-shaped," with the wealthiest 10% of households accounting for 50% of all retail spending. Those widely quoted numbers are from Moody's Chief Economist Mark Zandi. They make no sense to

Ed Yardeni
Elias Griepentrog

DEEP DIVE: US Economy Is Gen-Shaped, Not K-Shaped

Jan 9, 2026 4 min read

This is an excerpt from our January 5, 2026 Morning Briefing. The US economy's resilience is attributable primarily to robust consumer spending despite widespread concerns that rising prices have squeezed the purchasing power of lower-income consumers. As a result, many economists have warned that the so-called “K-shaped” economy isn’t sustainable. How can the economy continue to grow if more households are confronting an “affordability crisis”? Surely, it

Ed Yardeni

Live Long And Prosper!

Apr 8, 2024 2 min read

American consumers are doing what they do best: They are consuming goods and services. Their consumption of services has been especially strong. So the demand for workers by several major services industries has been particularly strong. In turn, robust employment gains have boosted consumers’ purchasing power and spending. We have attributed some of these developments to the retiring Baby Boomer generation. This cohort is the richest generation of senior citizens

Ed Yardeni

Retiring Boomers Have More Time & Money to Spend on Services

Jun 3, 2023 2 min read

Since early last year, many economists have been forecasting that consumers will retrench, causing a recession. They may be missing the spending boom driven by Baby Boomers. As more and more of them are retiring, they are spending more on travel (including airfare, accommodations, and cruises), eating out, and health care. Employment is expanding in all these areas of the labor market. The retired Baby Boomers may no longer be

Ed Yardeni

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Retiring Baby Boomers & The G-Shaped Economy

DEEP DIVE: US Economy Is Gen-Shaped, Not K-Shaped

Live Long And Prosper!

Retiring Boomers Have More Time & Money to Spend on Services