Personal Finance
The Stock Market Feeds the Racial Inequality It’s Free to Ignore
- Unequal equity ownership seen widening racial wealth gaps
- Fed data shows 61% of White families own stock, 31% of Black
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Over the past few weeks, as outraged crowds marched through the streets of America to demand an end to systemic racism, the country’s stock investors were busy bidding up the market at a dizzying clip.
At its height, with curfews enacted and videos of protesters clashing with police all over social media and President Donald Trump threatening to send in troops, the froth in markets became so extreme that, when observed on a three-month basis, every single company in the S&P 500 had swung into positive territory. It was a breathtaking display of indiscriminate buoyancy with no precedent in recent times.