As the stock market continues to hit new highs it might be a
shock to hear how few Americans actually own stock. According to a
detailed study of stock ownership by New York University economist Edward
Wolff, 84% of stocks available in the United States are owned by just the top
10% most-wealthy households. Furthermore, more than 93% of all stock is
owned by just the top 20% of households. That means that the bottom 80%
of households in the United States only own about 7% of the total stock
market. And, he notes, his research includes everything, direct ownership
of stocks and indirect ownership through mutual funds, trusts, IRA’s, Keogh
plans, and other retirement accounts. Put bluntly, the policies of the
Fed and the government that set the stage for the current long bull market
greatly favored the rich, and they indeed got very much richer.
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