Nearly 100 years since the U.S. stock market crash of 1929 unfolded the decade-long Great Depression, Americans are used to seeing a falling stock market as a sign that the economy is in danger, and a rising stock market as a sign that the economy is booming and better for everyone.
But now there is a historic disconnect between Wall Street and the U.S. economy due to the new crown (Chinese Communist virus) epidemic, and a new survey shows that Americans’ perceptions of the stock market are changing.
According to a CNBC survey of the nation’s economy, 57 percent of respondents said the record highs in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Stamp 500 and Nasdaq represent businesses and wealthy people doing better, while only 30 percent said the record stock indexes show the overall economy is doing better.
This is a marked change from the last survey in October 2018, when the stock market hit new highs while unemployment was at record lows. At that time, 38% of respondents said the rising stock market represented a strong overall economy; another 46% said the benefits of the stock market’s upturn were flowing mainly to big business and the wealthy.
The change in attitudes encompassed virtually all demographic segments as well as stock market families. Sixty percent of young people between the ages of 18 and 34 have made the least profit in the stock market. They say the stock market upturn has mainly benefited corporations and the wealthy. However, among all adults who invest in the stock market, the figure rises even more to 61%.
Even among the financial elite with more than $50,000 invested and an annual household income of $75,000 or more, 53 percent of respondents said the stock market’s good performance has only benefited large corporations and the top 1 percent of income earners.
The survey showed the most significant change among Republican respondents, a group that typically believes the economy has benefited from strong stock market performance. In the October 2018 survey, only 17 percent thought rising stock indexes benefited wealthy people and businesses. In contrast, 36 percent agreed with this view in the December 2020 survey, up nearly 20 percentage points.
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