Bessent Says the K-Shaped Economy Is Over—Housing Tells a Different Story

The K-shaped economy is “over,” according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.“I got sick of hearing about this K-shaped economy,” Bessent said in an appearance on CNBC’s "Squawk Box." “I can say here definitively, the K-shaped economy is over.”The term describes an economy in which segments of the market move in sharply different directions, creating the eponymous K shape. It entered the common lexicon last summer as shorthand for the widening divide between higher earners who continued to prosper in an environment of rising costs and everyone else.Housing became one of the clearest examples. As affordability pressures kept many lower- and middle-income Americans from buying, the upper end of the market proved far more resilient.Bessent argues that gap is now closing. He has pointed to stronger wage growth among lower-paid workers as evidence that the lower arm of the K is finally beginning to turn upward.“We’re seeing more of a C economy where the lower end of wage earners are finally calling it back, just like they did in President Trump’s first term,” he added.But the housing market has yet to make that turn.A Realtor.com® analysis of transaction data shows the lowest-priced ho...