I. The 1% and Ben Bernanke

Recently, the infamous former Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke was quoted explaining how he has no patience for individuals saying that his very dovish monetary policies (such as 0% rates, QE1-3, Operation Twist, and the moral hazard that came with all this) has been crippling savers and creating enormous wealth inequality.

Technically, if one has capital it’s the best time to be involved in the stock market, just take a look at the top 1%. A Berkeley economics professor, Dr. Emmanuel Sez, has showed light on what is really going on under middle American noses: over 95% of income gains since 2009 have gone to the top 1%. 

But wait – there’s more. CNN reports that as of 2015 the richest 1% have as much wealth as the other 99% combined. The top 1% have seen their share of global wealth increase in staggering amounts since the 2008 collapse. 

“The scale of global inequality is quite simply staggering; and despite the issues shooting up the global agenda, the gap between the richest and the rest is widening fast,” said Winnie Byanyima, executive director of the international aid agency.

Now Mr. Bernanke can say what he wants, but the rest of the world is catching on (hopefully).
It goes a little something like this: 0% interest rates historically boosts asset prices i.e. stocks and real estate (here is a short documentary on the disgusting housing bubble going on in San Francisco since 2009). Add in $4.5 trillion counterfeited dollars (as the academics like to call it, Quantitative Easing or QE for short) courtesy from the Fed to the Big Banks. And what is the outcome? Massive surge in stock prices, high end luxury real estate, and record corporate bonuses and share buybacks.

Thus one can logically deduce that artificially rising asset prices makes the net wealth for the owners of all this significantly higher.
And who owns all these assets? That’s right – the top 1%. 

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