Part 4/10:
With the rise of the internet in the 1990s, stock market participation surged. 60% of Americans were either directly or indirectly investing in stocks by the year 2000, with their jobs increasingly tying their financial futures to market performances. The advent of companies like AOL, Yahoo, and Amazon enthralled the investing public.
The dot-com bubble, however, burst in the early 2000s, leading to significant losses for many investors. Despite this downturn, participation levels remained high, cultivating a mentality that mixing income with financial speculation was acceptable.
The 2008 Financial Crisis: A Wake-Up Call