Earlier this year, President Joe Biden boasted that the stock market had hit "record after record after record on my watch, while making things more equitable for working-class people." Since Biden took office, U.S. investors have reportedly lost an estimated $7.6 trillion. The records purportedly set on his watch were wiped out this summer. Moreover, owing to the inflation exacerbated in part by the president's executive orders, American working families have lost $4,200 in real income and will have to spend an additional $11,500 just to maintain past living standards.
CNBC reported that Americans' holdings of corporate equities and mutual fund shares fell from $42 trillion at the beginning of the year to $33 trillion at the end of Q2 2022 — a $9 trillion drop.
Further precipitous drops observed since July in major market indices (e.g., the S&P 500 stock index is down 23%) as well as in the bond market (bond market index funds are down 15% this year) put estimates of wealth loss from financial markets between $9.5 trillion and $10 trillion.
