This week, we speak with Peter Atwater, president of Financial Insyghts and an adjunct professor at William & Mary and the University of Delaware. He studies the impact of changing confidence on consumer decision-making and advises investors, businesses and policymakers. He popularized the term “K-shaped recovery” to describe the pandemic’s effects on the economy. Atwater previously ran JPMorgan’s asset-backed securities business and served in executive roles at First USA, Bank One and Juniper Financial. He is the author of several books on investing confidence, most recently The Confidence Map: Charting a Path from Chaos to Clarity.
Atwater popularized the phrase “K-Shaped Recovery” to describe confidence-divide between the top and bottom of the economy post-pandemic. The work from home confidence divide was both revealed and amplified by the pandemic. He points out the ramifications when society suffer from low confidence in both politics and economics can be very significant.
Atwater Observes that following major events like the (January 6 insurrection), there are five natural reactions that reflect sentiment: “Fight, Flight, Freeze, Follow, and F*ck it.”
His books can be seen here; A transcript of our conversation is available here Tuesday.
You can stream and download our full conversation, including any podcast extras, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and Bloomberg. All of our earlier podcasts on your favorite pod hosts can be found here.
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business interview this weekend with Michael Fisch, founder and CEO of American Securities. The private equity firm with manages $27 billion in client assets.
Peter Atwater favorite books
Prechter’s Perspective by Bob Prechter
Peter Atwater authored Books
The Confidence Map: Charting a Path from Chaos to Clarity by Peter Atwater
Moods and Markets: A New Way to Invest in Good Times and in Bad by Peter Atwater
