Most people panic when they hear about the stock market crashing. The headlines scream, investors flee, and politicians rush to calm the public. But here’s a counterintuitive truth: when asset prices collapse during times of low wages and high inequality, it’s actually a good thing—for everyone except the already wealthy.
Here’s why
.When wages are stagnant and prices of assets—homes, stocks, businesses—keep climbing, wealth gets trapped at the top. The rich get richer because they own the appreciating assets, while everyone else is stuck paying inflated prices just to survive. You end up with a society where working people can’t afford to buy homes, invest, or even save meaningfully. The economy becomes a game that only benefits those who started ahead.
A market crash, while painful in the short term, resets that imbalance. It brings the price of assets closer to what ordinary people can actually afford. It gives younger workers and middle-class families a chance to invest, to buy property, and to participate in the economy without being crushed by inflated valuations.
In a healthy economy, wages and productivity drive prosperity—not speculation. But in a distorted economy, financial bubbles make everything expensive while most people’s paychecks barely move. A correction breaks that cycle. It’s the economic equivalent of pruning an overgrown tree—it may look harsh, but it’s necessary for new growth.
Of course, the wealthy hate this process. Their portfolios shrink, their real estate values drop, and their influence weakens. But for society at large, it’s an opportunity to rebuild on fairer ground.
So the next time you see markets plunging during a period of low wages and high inequality, remember: that’s not the world ending—it’s the system trying to heal. A reset isn’t destruction. It’s renewal.
