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Comment by burlesona | Hacker News Reader

I mean, it’s not hard to understand. Give everyone a bunch of money and most of them will fix a bunch of problems in their life, feel less stressed, and be more optimistic.

On top of the federal stimulus, this housing bubble has a lot of people thinking “okay I can retire off the sale of my home now,” though I doubt they’re thinking through where they’ll live after that sale, nor how inflation may devalue what seems today like a vast accumulation of wealth on paper.

The current situation makes me (a) more convinced that policies like a negative income tax are a superior safety net to the bureaucratic means tested programs we use today, and (b) more concerned that zero interest rate policy and the incredible distortions in the financial markets are going to end very badly.

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The article doesn't talk about money though, but factors like "significant enjoyment the day before", which obviously took a huge hit during the various phases of COVID lockdown. And this in turn is tied largely to social interaction and the general reopening the US has been experiencing.

Why does it have to end badly?

Why can't money just always get funnier?

If Central Banks guarantee to always pay more for bonds than what the Federal Government sold them for - what difference does it make if the interest rate is 0% or -5%? It's still some fixed, semi-guaranteed return.

Inequality doesn't seem to be a major talking point in any major economy despite the fact that we surpassed The Belle Epoch peak a couple years ago.

The masses don't seem concerned that inequality is sky rocketing. Almost everywhere >50% of people own homes -> A lot of them on a lot of leverage. Why should they care if Jeff Bezos is making >$70Bn a year on paper - when they're also making more on paper than they do working their jobs?

Until the homeownership rate starts to plummet - I don't see why >50% will ever care. And if the homeowership rate does plummet - why can't the government just Federally back negative-percent-down, interest-only loans to increase homeownership and inflate housing prices more (both of these exist already in other countries)?

Things can always get funnier.

You know what's not going to happen... The government just sit back and watch 80% of the world's wealth disappear.

> "You know what's not going to happen... The government just sit back and watch 80% of the world's wealth disappear."

Probably depends on who it's disappearing from.

People have been predicting since 2010 or so that things would end badly. Those that heeded such advice would have missed out on the biggest bull markets in stocks and real estate in a longtime, possibly ever. The media is obsessed with wealth inequality, but as you say, most people do not care. I think you are right.

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