Wall Street Versus Main Street (Again)
It's scarcely worth mentioning on a Friday in June ("If a tree falls in the forest..." and so on), but the final read on University of Michigan sentiment for this month underwhelmed.
At 85.5, the headline gauge printed below the preliminary reading and missed expectations, albeit climbing from the previous month (figure below).
If you're the optimistic type, you might note that sentiment is the second-"best" since the onset of the pandemic.
If you're a pessimist, well -- just read the text
“It’s not that the vaunted “wealth effect” doesn’t exist (Bernanke wasn’t wrong), it’s just that the transmission channel between central bank largesse and financial asset prices is orders of magnitude more efficient than the trickle-down dynamic from higher asset prices to Main Street.”
YES!!
Trickle down is largely one of those stories the rich like to tell themselves, even though they know it isn’t true. Everyone telling this story better hope that whole heaven/hell thing is another one of those stories.
Tinkle down is more apt. Yes they might as well say, piss on you.