It is being said that if the fed could just get the ‘wealth effect’ into motion the US economy would fully recover from the recession. But the ‘wealth effect’ is a phantom, the sort of economic fallacy that only a Keynesian could conjure up. Those who support this fiction argue that a stock market’s performance is driven by a net inflow of funds which in turn is driven by economic growth. They go further by saying that growth in turn is driven by investment, innovation and productivity, all of which influences corporate profits which in turn drive stock prices. Naturally, when these factors are positive GDP expands. Continue reading The ‘wealth effect’: an Austrian view