5 Major Economic Predictions For 2026

2026 will likely be the year the U.S. economy becomes a two-speed machine, where:

• The top half of the income/asset stack rides an AI-driven productivity rocket
• And the bottom half gets a crash course in ‘skills mismatch,’ ‘workforce optimization,’ and other corporate euphemisms for “we replaced you with software.”

And in the middle: confusion, political noise, and a Federal Reserve trying to cut rates into a world where the rates that actually matter don’t want to cooperate.

So, what does a “two-speed economy” look like in practice, and why would 2026 be the year it crystallizes?

This post originally appeared at InvestorPlace.