Cornell West has written a short and sad opinion piece in The Guardian. It is headlined Pity the sad legacy of Barack Obama.

The age of Barack Obama may have been our last chance to break from our neoliberal soulcraft. We are rooted in market-driven brands that shun integrity and profit-driven policies that trump public goods. Our “post-integrity” and “post-truth” world is suffocated by entertaining brands and money-making activities that have little or nothing to do with truth, integrity or the long-term survival of the planet. We are witnessing the postmodern version of the full-scale gangsterization of the world.

The reign of Obama did not produce the nightmare of Donald Trump – but it did contribute to it. And those Obama cheerleaders who refused to make him accountable bear some responsibility.

I agree with that sentiment and more. Cornell West went on to say

The top 1% got nearly two-thirds of the income growth in eight years even as child poverty, especially black child poverty, remained astronomical.

I was just thinking again today how this oft quoted factoid doesn’t even tell the half of what has happened. If we look at changes in wealth, it would be far worse than the picture painted by looking at income. Lots of people tout the growth of the Dow Jones Industiral Average of stocks during Obama’s reign. Since much of the top 1%’s wealth depends on stock prices, this growth has been a tremendous boon to them. Remember that growth in the value of stocks you own but do not sell, is called unrealized capital gains. Until you sell your stocks and realize the gain from their increased price, your gain in paper wealth is not counted as income. So, the realized gain in wealth that is counted as income is but a small part of your gain in wealth. When you include the drop in residential real estate prices, there is a big component of unrealized losses for the bottom 99%.

I forgot to mention that even realized gains in tax deferred accounts such as 401ks and IRAs do not count as income until you withdraw the money. My own net-worth this year has gone up three times more than my taxable income this year, and that includes the fact that I am retired and have been spending some of my income on yearly expenses.

I have not seen any numbers published, but the shift in paper wealth from the bottom 99% to the top 1% must be truly astounding compared to the income numbers. Of course, the income numbers alone are truly horrible.