Economist behind K-shaped economy sees a 'sea of despair' for the bottom 90% and a 'crisis of confidence' in the American dream

A woman looks down at a shelf of food while leaning on a grocery cart. (Credit: Joe Raedle—Getty Images)

Peter Atwater, adjunct professor of economics at William & Mary and president of Financial Insyghts, knows a thing or two about the K-shaped economy. Anonymous Twitter user “Ivan the K” introduced the idea of a “K recovering” following the pandemic, a gloomy outlook where some elements of life before COVID would recover, while some will not. Atwater popularized it.

Atwater credits Ivan the K for the coining the term, but said he was the first to run with it, publishing a series of pieces in 2020 about the growing gap between the haves and have-nots: White-collar employees could work remotely while blue-collar workers were outside the work-from-home bubble. While the tech industry more quickly recovered, the pandemic pummeled lower-income workers, such as service workers who were either laid off or deemed essential, leaving them stuck in their jobs.