It's my personal belief and the view of many economists that the stock market has become entirely decoupled from the real economy - that is why the impact of the lower tiers are not reflected there.

Low interest rates and share buy-backs have created a vastly distorted picture of what companies are actually worth.

Add to that the fact that the tools we use to measure an economy's health are archaic and ineffective. Overpriced stocks and financial services chronically inflate GDP.

I agree that the lower caste are ideologically dispensable to the corporate elite, but their spending power and the work that they do is not.