The tenth anniversary of the fall of the House of Lehman is approaching. While the nationwide housing market bubble was deflating along with the economy before Lehman's collapse, the implosion of the storied investment bank sent the global credit markets spiraling.
Ten years on, for many American households and businesses, the economic worries of those days have faded in the rear-view mirror. The stock market is on an unprecedented bull run. The unemployment rate is under 4 percent. Business confidence is high. The current expansion is the nation's second-longest since the National Bureau of Economic Research has been keeping records.
Yet far from everyone has financially healed over the past decade. A recent paper from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis reports that, on average, the bottom 50 percent of American households have about half as much wealth in 2016 as in 2007.
Why have the gains of the expansion been limited when it comes to wages and incomes? And are we prepared for the next downturn?
Host Chris Farrell, in for Kerri Miller, spoke with three economists:
Heidi Shierholz — senior economist and director of policy for EPI
Ron Feldman — first vice president for the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
Jared Bernsteing — senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and former chief economist and economic adviser to Vice President Biden