> When the stock market dropped 50% in 2008/2009, so many people in retirement age were ruined because their retirement money was in the markets.

Interesting perspective on why central bankers have seemed so complacent about high stock valuations.

I've also heard commentaries that the wealth effect was one of the tactics used to drag the US out of the Great Recession.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth_effect