The Growing K-Shaped Economy

On today’s show, we’re digging into the mailbag to hear our listeners’ thoughts on the economy in 2025. Spoiler: tariffs came up a lot. And, we’ll hear from some of the reporters who helped us make sense of the news this year about what they’ll be keeping an eye on in 2026. Plus, we’ll celebrate a win!

Here’s everything we talked about today:

• "Trump shook up global trade this year; some uncertainty may persist in 2026" from Reuters
• "Trump tests his 'affordability' message in a midterm battleground district" from NBC News 
• "This K-shaped economy is reliant on high-income spenders" from Marketplace
• "Jerome Powell’s era of consensus at the Fed is over" from CNN Business
• "Missouri House advances proposal that could curtail ballot initiatives passing" from STLPR 

We love hearing from you. Leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART or email makemesmart@marketplace.org.