Monday’s 1,031-point stock market plunge certainly brought panic to financiers, traders, policymakers and investors. But did the long stock market rise parallel the fortunes of America’s real economy?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average skyrocketed by more than 20,000 points since its low in March 2009, enriching big investors and enabling President Donald Trump to claim that "our economy is the best it has ever been." Someone who invested $10 million in an index fund in 2009 would now have more than $50 million. Not bad. Unfortunately, what’s happening on Wall Street has little or no day-to-day relevance to most Americans.
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