When the Democrats gather in Charlotte this week, there will no doubt be plenty of trash talk aimed at the “fat cats” and the “1 percent” — you know, the ones who don’t feel economic pain and who are not “paying their fair share” to Uncle Sam.
The irony is, these are the groups who have precisely benefited the most from the policies put in place by President Obama and his top banker, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, during the administration’s 1,300 days in office.
Yes, the recovery has been sub-par and the housing sector has yet to heal, and the only irrefutably positive piece of economic data Team Obama can point to is the stock market, which has performed spectacularly during his first term.
In fact, the Dow is up 61 percent since Inauguration Day, the best first-term performance since President Eisenhower’s.
Typically, such a performance bodes extremely well for the incumbent. According to a study by the Socionomics Institute, outsize returns on Wall Street presage landslides on Election Day.
But don’t expect Obama and his Chicago handlers to be highlighting what is typically an easy talking point at national conventions.
And with good reason.
The so-called “wealth effect” that used to sweep over the upper and middle classes when stocks rose substantially is no more. Since 2009, investors have been running from stocks — even as they soar.
Under Obama, tens of millions of Americans have cut or curtailed their contributions to their 401(k) retirement plans. With the median net worth of US families down 39 percent since the housing bubble burst, the rising tide of the stock market can do little to assuage the notion that things are worse now than in 2008.
But that’s not the only reason that the Obama folks should run away from any talk about the Obama Bull Market. That’s because, deep down, Americans understand that the zero-interest rate policies of the Fed haven’t worked — other than to juice prices of stocks, fine art and property in the Hamptons.