What do you guys think about the current PE ratio of S&P 500, which is 29.5 and well above the historical average?

(Reposting because the original post had good discussion going on but mods deleted it for “self-promotion” which was strange. I assume that was for mentioning a popular podcast. Hopefully, this post stays.)

Here is the chart of PE ratio – https://www.multpl.com/s-p-500-pe-ratio . Even looking at only the past 15 years, 29.5 is very high and is only below the COVID highs – but the COVID high is artificial because the earnings dropped like a rock due to lockdowns. The only other time 29+ was reached was before the 2000 and 2008 crashes.

Here is another website with forward PE estimate – https://www.gurufocus.com/economic_indicators/6061/sp-500-pe-ratio-with-forward-estimate . This says a different story – forward PE estimate is apparently at 22 for 2025! I assume this means they expect earnings to bump up by 30-40%! That's the only way PE can go from 29 to 22 afaik (well unless the stock price goes down).

I was looking around a bit regarding this and came across something called Shiller PE ratio – https://www.multpl.com/shiller-pe – “Price earnings ratio is based on average inflation-adjusted earnings from the previous 10 years, known as the Cyclically Adjusted PE Ratio (CAPE Ratio), Shiller PE Ratio, or PE 10”. This also looks similar to PE ratio and seems to peak just before every recession, but I don't understand it fully (for comparison with normal PE – https://www.gurufocus.com/economic_indicators/57/sp-500-pe-ratio ). Even this says that the ratio is well well above historical average and is only comparable to 2000 levels.

Is the expected growth in next few years high enough to justify the high prices? Is this time different?

I'm not here claiming anything but just want to know what people think.