> normal people haven't benefited from that increase unless they've been able to pump their money into things like stocks. Except that the U.S. isn't cut off f

> normal people haven't benefited from that increase unless they've been able to pump their money into things like stocks. Except that the U.S. isn't cut off from the world economy, and over a billion people have moved out of extreme poverty. How much of the difference in what we expect buying power should be compared to what it is is on account of globalization and sharing some of that wealth with other countries? It seems a bit suspect to assume monetary policy is the only or the majority of the reason for these observations without considering things such as that.