HenryPP, I would agree with most of what you say here, but “the rich” have also been buying the things that Joe Sixpack needs — commodities (agricultural, energy, etc.), and housing, for instance. There is a TON of speculation in these markets which is why prices have shot up when they *should have* gone down after 2008/2009. IMHO, we have been seeing the inflation, but the talking heads have been calling it “normalization” because they want J6 to think that high prices, like those seen during the bubble, are “normal.”
A lot of these trades are being made with leveraged money. At some point, the end products have to be sold or rented to the unwashed masses who’ve been seeing their pay go down while their living expenses have gone up. I think that will be the wall that causes the next crisis, but who knows when that will happen. Interest rates will definitely play a role. Maybe this is why we’re seeing the “increase minimum wage” movement get a foothold. Who knows?
