Jeanne Whalen

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.

So it really depends where you're sitting.

Welcome to The Journal, our show about money, business, and power.

I'm Ryan Knudson.

It's Friday, December 19th.

Coming up on the show, a 2025 economy health check.

All right, let's start with tariffs.

The Trump administration imposed massive tariffs in the spring and said that it would lead to a manufacturing renaissance.

And critics, meanwhile, worried that it could lead to increased inflation and slow down the economy.

So we are now eight months in from when Trump announced these back in April.

Gene, what have the effects actually been so far?

And the effects have been far more mild so far than many economists and consumers were expecting.