...Analyst Ray Boshara of the New America Foundation also thinks that the stock market remains a key to boosting our future standard of living. Here's why: Unless rising Asia becomes disappearing Asia, excess global labor supply will continue to push down hard on wages. "We are not going back to the 1950s," Boshara says. "The return from labor has been diminishing. Families have to earn income not just from a job but from assets."

But rather than Social Security privatization, Boshara is a proponent of "baby bonds." Each of the 4 million kiddies born every year would receive a $1,000 to $6,000 deposit from Uncle Sam into a "stakeholder account," where it would stay, compounding away, until the child hit 18. After that, the money could be used for college or a down payment on a home.

The stock market may be entity non grata in Washington right now. But let's hope it will be invited back to attend some future State of the Union address... Full story