Stock market has become something that countries use to advertise and show power, much like GDP.

Gone are the days when the S&P and the GDP represented a condensed data point to enable people to evaluate the general health of the economy and companies.

This happens everywhere, as soon as a KPI start monopolizing the conversation, the optimizer/cheater in all of us decides to start finding ways to prop up the KPI instead of improving operations and let the KPI fall where it may.

But truth cannot be hidden, lies won't conceal it.

Even with stock market at all time highs, people are miserable, that's the only KPI you cannot fake.