When U.S. Technology Stocks Surge While Social Welfare Continues to Falter

 When U.S. Technology Stocks Surge While Social Welfare Continues to Falter

The Paradox of Financial Growth in the Modern Economy

Author: Le Hai

Date: December 16, 2025

Abstract

At a time when U.S. technology stocks continue to surge and reach new highs, the social welfare and economic security of ordinary citizens have not improved proportionately. This article argues that such growth primarily reflects financial asset appreciation and nominal tax revenues, rather than real income growth, sustainable job creation, or enhanced social welfare for the majority of the population.

This phenomenon represents a misaligned growth model, in which financial markets, large technology corporations, and media amplification of “success narratives” are prioritized over the core responsibility of government toward social well-being.

1. Rising Technology Stocks: Asset Growth, Not Living-Standard Growth

The surge in U.S. technology stocks produces three main outcomes:

Increased corporate market capitalization

Higher returns for shareholders and asset holders

Indirect tax revenues for the state

However, stock prices do not directly reflect:

Real income growth for workers

Broad-based job creation

Improvements in social welfare

In other words, this is financial asset growth, not social growth.

2. The U.S. Labor Market: Financial Growth Detached from Employment

Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show that:

Unemployment rates have begun to trend upward again in recent periods

New jobs are concentrated in low-wage, low-stability service sectors

The technology sector—despite generating enormous market value—is not labor-intensive for the general workforce

This indicates that rising technology stock prices do not translate into proportional employment opportunities for ordinary citizens.

3. Rising Homelessness: A Clear Indicator of Social Welfare Failure

According to reports from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development:

Homelessness in the United States continues to increase

A significant proportion of homeless individuals are currently employed

This presents a serious paradox:

👉 Employment no longer guarantees economic security, as income fails to cover housing and basic living costs.

4. Healthcare and Tax Burdens on Ordinary Citizens

American workers must simultaneously:

Pay personal income taxes

Contribute to mandatory or semi-mandatory health insurance

Bear some of the highest healthcare costs in the world

Meanwhile, social protection remains disproportionate to these financial obligations, turning healthcare risk into an individual burden rather than a collective responsibility. This dynamic is a major source of prolonged social insecurity, even among the employed.

5. The Core Responsibility of Government and a Reversal of Priorities

The fundamental role of a legitimate government is to:

Create sustainable employment for ordinary citizens

Ensure social welfare: housing, healthcare, education

Protect the ability of the majority to live with dignity through labor

However, when economic policy prioritizes:

Stock prices

Financial markets

Large technology corporations

while unemployment, homelessness, and healthcare insecurity worsen, the issue is no longer cyclical—it is structural.

6. Counterargument: “Favoring Technology Firms Creates Job Spillovers” — and Its Limits

Some argue that prioritizing technology companies generates indirect employment through supply chains and increased consumption. Yet empirical data suggest that this spillover effect is steadily weakening.

(a) Labor and Productivity

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:

Productivity gains are driven primarily by automation and optimization

Mass hiring does not keep pace with profit growth

(b) Social Welfare

According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development:

Homelessness has increased even during periods of strong financial-market performance

(c) International Analysis

Reports from the OECD and the World Bank indicate that:

Many advanced economies are experiencing non-inclusive growth

The benefits of technology and finance are concentrated among high-income groups

Median incomes and social welfare indicators are stagnating or growing slowly

👉 Thus, job spillover effects are no longer sufficient to justify prioritizing corporations over social policy.

7. Media, Social Networks, and the “Misplaced Celebration”

Across social media and mainstream outlets, the U.S. government is often praised through narratives centered on:

“Victories” in technology stocks

AI chips

AI-related equities

Iconic corporations and individuals such as Elon Musk or Google

Videos and articles repeatedly highlight stock prices, technology, and individual success, while rarely asking fundamental questions:

How are ordinary citizens actually living?

Are wages sufficient to sustain a decent life?

Do housing, healthcare, and insurance remain overwhelming burdens?

This silence is not accidental.

If media were to seriously address citizens’ lived conditions, the entire “success story” built on financial markets would expose its structural contradictions.

👉 Modern media does not lie—but it omits what matters most.

8. Why This Article Does Not Compare the U.S. to Nordic Countries

This article deliberately avoids comparisons with Nordic countries. Its objective is not to propose alternative models, but to assign responsibility to the current U.S. government.

Including Nordic comparisons would:

Dilute the core critique

Offer an escape via “different national contexts”

Shift the focus from policy accountability to model comparison

The central principle remains universal:

👉 A government should be judged by the living conditions of ordinary citizens, not by stock prices.

9. Conclusion

Rising technology stock prices represent asset growth, not social progress.

A nation should not be evaluated by corporate market capitalization, but by whether its citizens can live with dignity through their labor.

If a government:

Prioritizes corporations and financial markets

While neglecting employment, social welfare, and healthcare for ordinary people

then it has reversed the fundamental role of the state.

The true pillar of a nation is not its stock market,

but the lived reality of its people.