Jeanne Whalen

It's almost the end of the year, which gets a nerd like me thinking, how did the economy do this year?

Fortunately, I know some people who know things.

We have a Wall Street Journal economic dream team here.

So could each of you introduce yourselves?

Sure.

I'm Jean Whalen.

I'm an economics reporter for the Wall Street Journal in Chicago.

And if you could summarize the state of the economy right now in a single word, what would it be?

Uncertain.

Meh.

Meh.

All right, Rachel.

Top uncertain and meh.

Based on those answers, uncertain and asymmetrical, I'm starting to get the impression that you guys think it's not such a great economy right now.

It really depends where you're sitting.

For older people, for people with more savings who own their homes, it's a great time.

The value of their homes has gone way up.

The value of their 401ks has really soared incredibly over the last few years.

But people on the lower end of the scale, things for them are looking worse.

So that's the old, what economists sometimes call the K-shaped economy.