On The Issues- Know Before You Vote

Market vs. Economy

Iowa Citizen Action Network, along with our allies and partners, has put together a series of videos: On The Issues – Know Before You Vote. This installment is about the Market vs. the Economy.

There is a common misconception that the Market and the Economy are one and the same, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Click HERE to watch a conversation with ReShonda Young of Waterloo, a small business owner and financial planner, explaning the difference.

To try and simplify the difference between the Market and the Economy, we look at it like this:

The stock market  is largely made up of corporations which are much different than the small businesses, workers and cities in the U.S. In the market, it’s all about profits for stockholders.

The economy is more about small business owners, workers and consumers. There is a cycle when production and consumption increases: to produce more goods, companies and factories might hire more employees to complete such production. With more individuals employed and gathering paychecks, more people have money to spend on such goods – increasing overall consumption.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the disconnect.  For decades, the market has been growing increasingly detached from the mainstream of American life. Wall Street has very little to do with Main Street. And now with the economic fallout of the pandemic any illusion that the market is the economy is even more pronounced.

The Market basically sees rich people getting richer; corporations making more money and politicians falling over themselves to keep that going.

The Economy is what we are living day-to-day. With job losses, businesses closing, racial inequality, the end of pandemic relief, etc.  Iowans and Americans are hurting and a rising stock market doesn’t mean a lot for our everyday lives.

Thanks for checking out our video. We will be sending additional conversations in the coming days.

If you haven’t already, be sure to VOTE in this election. The issues we are facing are so important to each and every one of us.

Thanks for your continued support.  Feel free to forward this email to anyone who would be interested! And let us know if you have any questions! — Sue // sdinsdale@iowacan.org