In one form or another — the Troubled Asset Relief Program, quantitative easing, the Fed’s discount window — the financial sector was supported in spectacular fashion. By cutting interest rates to near zero and pumping trillions — yes, you read that right — into the economy, the Federal Reserve essentially put a trampoline under the stock market. Only about half of American households have any exposure to the stock market, including 401(k)’s and retirement plans, and ownership of the shares of individual companies is clustered among upper-income families. In 2016, net worth among white middle-income families was 19 percent below 2007 levels, adjusted for inflation. Slack in the labor market left the employed and unemployed alike with little leverage to demand raises, even as corporate profits surged.

Source: New York Times September 12, 2018 09:00 UTC