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A huge proportion of the workforce are employed by listed, publicly traded companies. Those workers can use their salary to buy as many shares as they want on t
by tacostakohashi 10y ago
A huge proportion of the workforce are employed by listed, publicly traded companies. Those workers can use their salary to buy as many shares as they want on the open market, and also sell those shares whenever they want.
The fact that people tend not to do this very often tells you that people don't actually want to have any "real share of the company, or say in the direction of it".
- quickben 10y agoWith an average salary, from whatever is left at the end of the month, these workers: 1. Can't buy "as many shares as they want". 2. Whatever they buy, considering the market cap and required volume for voting, will be statistical noise.
- monort 10y agoIn 2016 US total income was 16 trillion, US market capitalization was 24 trillion. It looks like people prefer to spend, not to own.
- quickben 10y agoOh yes, people spend. On rent, food, fridge repairs, medical bills, etc. Outside of the down town cores, and few high demand industries, people 'get by'. Having extensively seen both worlds, it seems to me that the richer end is always quicker to say: I just ate a big meal, how can world hunger exist.
- neon_electro 10y agoWhen 7 in 10 Americans can't afford to sock away more than $1,000[1], can you really argue that they don't _want_ to buy into the stock market? [1] https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2016/10/09/savings-study/91083712/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2016/10...
- tacostakohashi 10y agoYes, I could mount a fairly convincing argument that they want to buy into the stock market less than everything else spend money on.
- neon_electro 10y agoI don't need shares of stock to survive. I do need food, shelter, and access to transportation to my source of income. Am I missing something about the risk of investing in the stock market when basic needs could be put at risk? (i.e., a dollar put into the stock market could have been a dollar put into savings to help me in times of need)