But what about the 50,000 stock market !

[Cirsium]

10. Not at all

I’m not arguing that people with retirement savings should hope for a crash. That’s a false choice. The point is that we’ve built an economy where the financial security of a minority is tied to asset inflation, while the majority bears the costs through higher housing, healthcare, and education prices. Questioning that structure isn’t the same thing as wishing harm on people who are trying to retire.

The deeper problem is that we’ve made stock market performance a proxy for economic health. When retirement security depends on perpetual market growth, any attempt to address inequality gets framed as “hoping for a crash.” That’s not sustainable. A healthy economy shouldn’t require rising asset prices to keep people secure.

Stock market gains overwhelmingly benefit those who already own significant assets. That doesn’t mean individuals with 401(k)s are villains—it means we’ve tied basic security to a mechanism that concentrates wealth. We can protect retirement savings and stop treating market highs as evidence that the economy is working for everyone.

I’m saying that an economy where the only path to security is asset appreciation is a fragile one. We shouldn’t confuse protecting people’s retirements with defending a system that leaves most people without any assets at all.