The stock market slipping by 10 percent is nothing new. It has happened over fifty times since 1950. But what is different now is the effect. This decline has already erased wealth equal to 12 percent of GDP, something that has only happened a handful of times in modern history. That should make people ask the real question: why is the economy this dependent on stock prices?
Durable economies do not live and die by asset bubbles. They grow from real wages, productivity, and industry. Yet every time markets dip, the financial media and policymakers panic. It is never about the worker struggling with stagnant pay. It is not about families dealing with rising costs. The concern is always about keeping the stock market inflated at any cost. Why is it the taxpayer’s job to prop up a system that only benefits the few at the very top?
The Federal Reserve’s own data makes it clear. The wealthiest 10 percent own nearly 90 percent of all stocks. That means when the market falls, it is their wealth that takes the hit, yet every time there is talk of intervention, stimulus, or bailouts, it is framed as if the entire country is on the line. This is not economic policy. It is socialism for the rich.
If a simple correction can shake the economy this much, it is only more proof that this was never a strong economy. A real economy does not collapse the moment Wall Street stumbles. Yet here we are, watching another wealth shock unfold, knowing exactly who will be asked to foot the bill when the calls for intervention inevitably come.
