Conversation

The thing about wealth inequality is that poverty is very, very real and most American wealth is imaginary. It’s in stocks, whose “value” is book value + optimism. When the optimism evaporates, the wealth evaporates. When wealth decreases below debt (mortgage, credit cards, car payments) then poof, you’re poor. A 20% walk back in the market will bankrupt millions of households. A 401(K) crash means millions of seniors in poverty, probably homeless.

The *very* rich will be OK, of course.