“Aughts” Ruined by Wall Street

The Aughts were the first decade of falling median income since figures were first compiled in the ’60s. And the net worth of American households – the value of their houses, retirement funds and other assets minus debts – has also declined when adjusted for inflation, compared with sharp gains in every previous decade since data were initially collected in the 1950s.”

Bummer.

The Aughts were a nasty decade for investors too. Bloomberg reports that the value of all the world’s public companies was a bit more than $60 trillion at the end of 2007. Stocks were cut in half in ’08. In ’09, after the March low, the bounce began. They recovered roughly half of what they lost to end 2009 with a total value of about $45 trillion.

Bummer again.

What went wrong? According to the Post account, economists are scratching their heads wondering. What a bunch of morons!

Bill Bonner looks back on the Aughts decade and ahead to the next. Will we continue to make the same mistakes? Stay tuned.