Stock market, resurgent since '08, indicates Americans are better off, say Stevenson and Wolfers

Ford School economists Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers argue a resurgent stock market indicates Americans are in better shape than they were in September 2008, which marked the height of the U.S. banking and financial crisis.

"Against this background, it's surprising to hear Republicans returning to Ronald Reagan's classic debate question: 'Are you better off than you were four years ago?'" Stevenson and Wolfers write in a column for Bloomberg View. "To anyone whose memory extends a full electoral cycle, the answer is clearly yes."

On Monday, Stevenson discussed the importance of the stock market to understanding the post-2008 economic recovery on National Public Radio affiliate WAMU's "The Diane Rhem Show."

Stevenson joined the Ford School as an associate professor of public policy on September 1. Wolfers, who will split his appointment between the Ford School and the University's Department of Economics, begins on January 1, 2013.

Read the full column, "Are You Better Off? Take a Look at the Stock Market."

• Justin Wolfers
• Betsey Stevenson
• economy
• Ronald Reagan
• associate professor of public policy
• stock market