Asset markets are near all-time highs — so why does everyone feel miserable?

In this episode of Debatable at Best, Ray Ali and Amol Gharte dig into the growing disconnect between booming asset markets and everyday economic anxiety. We explore whether the U.S. is now operating in two separate economies — one thriving on high valuations and cyclical investments, and another struggling with inflation, housing affordability, and job insecurity. Is this divide sustainable, or are we setting ourselves up for a reckoning?

We debate whether the current AI boom is a genuine productivity revolution or just another cycle inflating already-high asset prices. Along the way, we revisit Trump’s first year in office, unpacking the real impact of tariffs, stimulus checks, and market-friendly policy on both Wall Street and Main Street.

The conversation turns to the job market: are jobs actually hard to find, or does it depend on where you sit? We share anecdotal evidence from New York, discuss labor market churn, and ask where employment trends go from here as automation and economic pressure collide.

Finally, we take the economy’s national temperature — inflation trends, rising car repossessions, growing demand for personal loans, and what indicators like Mamdani-style stress signals suggest about consumer health beneath the surface.

No answers. No certainty. Just perspective.