For most of my career, I believed deeply in the American Dream, because I lived it. I entered the investment world during an era when innovation was exploding, entrepreneurship was celebrated, and ordinary Americans could invest early in great ideas. Today, that system is breaking down, and the consequences are far bigger than Wall Street. They are reshaping our culture, our politics, and our children’s future.

If we want real economic justice, we must confront an uncomfortable truth: the shrinking stock market is locking everyday Americans out of opportunity.

Stream Economic War Room with Kevin Freeman on the Real Life Network.

The Golden Era of Opportunity

When I graduated from college and entered investment management, there were over 6,000 publicly traded companies. The Dow hovered around 1,100. Entrepreneurs launched new ideas constantly, and everyday investors could participate in their success.

Innovation wasn’t restricted to elites. From early tech pioneers to small manufacturers, public markets allowed average Americans to build wealth simply by working hard and investing wisely. That system worked, and it fueled the greatest middle class expansion in history.

The Shocking Decline of Public Companies

Despite massive economic growth, the number of publicly traded companies has been cut in half over the past three decades. Our population has grown by 50%. GDP has increased eightfold. Yet investment opportunities have collapsed.

The iconic Wilshire 5000, once designed to track roughly 5,000 public companies, now includes closer to 3,400, and that number keeps shrinking. This is not a coincidence. It’s a warning sign.

Financialization and the Rise of Private Equity

Today, there are more ETFs and mutual funds than individual stocks. That means more money is being made from managing investments than from building companies.

At the same time, private equity has exploded. Companies stay private longer, funded by massive pools of capital available only to the ultra-wealthy. By the time a company goes public, much of the growth, and profit, has already been captured.

Uber is a prime example. Private investors made billions before the public ever had access. When everyday Americans finally invested, many suffered steep losses. This isn’t protecting the little guy. It’s excluding him.

Regulation: Well-Intended, Deeply Damaging

Since the 1980s, the regulatory burden of going public has skyrocketed. Laws like Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank dramatically increased compliance costs, audits, disclosures, and legal exposure. In the 1980s, hundreds of companies went public each year. Today, fewer than 100 do.

On average, being a public company now costs over $1 million more per year than staying private, and for some firms, far more. Entrepreneurs respond rationally: they avoid public markets altogether. The result? Ordinary Americans are shut out of early-stage growth.

The Cantillon Effect and the Wealth Gap

When money is created, it doesn’t flow evenly through the economy. Those closest to the source, banks, financial institutions, and the wealthy, benefit first. Everyone else pays later through inflation.

Since leaving the gold standard in 1971, the dollar has lost roughly 90% of its purchasing power. Meanwhile, the wealthiest Americans have seen their assets rise alongside money creation. This is why young people feel the system is rigged. And when opportunity disappears, socialism starts to sound appealing.

Why Socialism Isn’t the Answer

Across history, from Lenin to Mao to Chavez, socialism has always ended the same way: less freedom, less wealth, and more misery.

What young Americans are reacting to isn’t capitalism, it’s crony capitalism. A system where only elites can win breeds resentment and despair. True free-market capitalism creates opportunity, innovation, and generosity. And we can restore it.

A Path Forward: Real Economic Justice

We need solutions that expand opportunity, not restrict it. That includes:

  • Making it easier for companies to go public earlier
  • Reducing excessive regulation while maintaining transparency
  • Protecting intellectual property from foreign theft
  • Giving Americans access to sound money that holds its value

Through initiatives like state-level gold and silver legal tender laws, we are already restoring financial freedom in multiple states. These reforms protect purchasing power and give families real choices.

Restoring the American Dream

Imagine a system where everyday Americans can invest early in the next great innovation. Where money holds its value. Where entrepreneurs thrive, and workers share in the upside. That’s not nostalgia. It’s achievable.

Economic justice doesn’t come from redistribution. It comes from opportunity, ownership, and freedom. America has done this before. And with the right reforms, we can do it again.

Kevin Freeman is host of Economic War Room and Pirate Money Radio. Stream Economic War Room with Kevin Freeman on the Real Life Network.

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