That’s not relevant to the discussion here, though. To paraphrase, it was: “lol what bubble? Stocks are much higher than they were in 2000.” “But they still t

That’s not relevant to the discussion here, though. To paraphrase, it was: “lol what bubble? Stocks are much higher than they were in 2000.” “But they still took 15 years to recover”. Whether it was smart or not to go all in on NASDAQ is not really material. To address your point anyway, plenty of investment and pension funds were badly hit. Because even if you diversify, when a whole sector of the industry loses 20% in a couple of months, it hurts even people who did not invest themselves. I lived through these years and the ripple effects went much, much further than just some reckless venture capitalists. And broadening the outlook a bit, not everyone can afford to stay illiquid for 20 years, particularly in the US where the social safety net is not very effective. Also, what about the not-boomers who were not in a state to invest in the 1980s? Plenty of 20- to 30-somethings were wiped out as well. Knowing that the market will be up 20 years from now (and not the stocks you might hold, mind) is cold comfort. If you don’t remember it or did not live through it, I can tell you that it hurt quite a lot and no amount of hindsight now about what people should have done is going to change that.