Asset prices have grown faster than incomes in the U.S for the last several decades; this trend appears to be accelerating. In my neighborhood of Boston, YoY

Asset prices have grown faster than incomes in the U.S for the last several decades; this trend appears to be accelerating. In my neighborhood of Boston, YoY condo prices are growing at 8%. On paper I've been paid to live in my condo for the last few years. <Speculation> IMHO the method that the Fed uses to inject currency biases towards asset classes by controlling borrowing costs. In an industrial economy, this would typically result in direct investment into new equipment, and an agricultural economy the tilling of new land. However, growth in services or tech is rarely debt-financed as there are relatively low CapEx costs and high opex loads. Given the relative maturity of the industrial and agricultural sectors, there aren't many places in the economy that can productively absorb debt-backed financing. What we end up with is relatively static asset classes absorbing massive debt-based financing and inflating overall asset prices. Unfortunately, several of these asset prices bleed over as costs to workers who need a home, a rent for their place of business, or an education to acquire skills. While in a healthy economy, everyone's cost is someone else's income. As long as the Central bank is applying a QE strategy, your cost is a mortgage or a rent backed by a mortgage; the "income" side of the equation is just the central bank. Asset holders benefit from holding assets that magically increase in price. </Speculation>