Page 226 - Morgan Housel - The Psychology of Money_ Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness-Harriman House Limited (2020)

that will be backstopped by the Fed, own stocks that will be supported by
various government policies, and so on.
COBACOBA

None of these things are problems in and of themselves, which is why they
stay in place.

But they’re symptomatic of the bigger thing that’s happened since the early
1980s: The economy works better for some people than others. Success isn’t

as meritocratic as it used to be and, when success is granted, it’s rewarded
with higher gains than in previous eras.

You don’t have to think that’s morally right or wrong.

And, again, in this story it doesn’t matter why it happened.

It just matters that it did happen, and it caused the economy to shift away
from people’s expectations that were set after the war: That there’s a broad
middle class without systematic inequality, where your neighbors next door
and a few miles down the road live a life that’s pretty similar to yours.

Part of the reason these expectations have stuck around for 35 years after
they shifted away from reality is because they felt so good for so many
people when they were valid. Something that good—or at least the
impression that it was that good—isn’t easy to let go of.

So people haven’t let go of it. They want it back.

10. The Tea Party, Occupy Wall Street, Brexit, and Donald Trump each
represents a group shouting, “Stop the ride, I want off.”

The details of their shouting are different, but they’re all shouting—at least
in part—because stuff isn’t working for them within the context of the post-
war expectation that stuff should work roughly the same for roughly
everyone.