Wall Street success doesn’t mean average Americans are thriving in Biden’s economy, serial entrepreneur says
Entrepreneur Shawn Meaike says that Wall Street is thriving, but the chatter on Main Street is about persistent inflation and higher costs for everyday items.
Wall Street success doesn’t mean average Americans are thriving under President Biden, according to entrepreneur Shawn Meaike.
The S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite are hovering at record highs, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average crossed 40,000 for the first time in May before easing. While Wall Street is thriving, the chatter on Main Street is about persistent inflation and higher costs for everyday items.
"Why don't you get on the streets, start talking to people that pay too much for bread and milk and gas and rent and ask them if they're excited about the NASDAQ? Ask that Middle American," Meaike told Fox News Digital.
"I grew up in a lower-income family," he added. "You could have come to my apartment and ask anybody that was there, ‘Hey, are you excited? NASDAQ had an all-time high?' And they probably would have said, ‘What's the NASDAQ? How is that affecting what I'm paying for my food costs, my rent, my insurance?’"
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Meaike, who grew up living in subsidized housing in Connecticut but is now worth "in excess of nine figures" with businesses in real estate, waste management and life insurance, feels the foundation of the economy is that it simply can't "break the backs of the Middle American family."
"What's happening now with inflation, the cost of all goods, it's breaking the back of middle-American families. And a recent jump in the NASDAQ didn't put them in a better position," he said.
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Meaike prides himself on mentoring others, and his "Close & Conquer" podcast helps young investors carve out a successful business. He said that lately, a common occurrence is "historically liberal" people telling him they plan to begrudgingly vote for former President Trump in November because they are fed up with Biden’s economy.
"I talk to them every day and they have to make a point, tell me how much they can't believe it, they dislike him, they're offended by the things he says… I ask them, ‘Then why are you going to vote for him?’ They go, ‘We're at a breaking point financially. My family is at a breaking point,’" Meaike said.
"You don't have to go very far to find people that say, ‘I wish I wasn't paying so much for everything, I wish the small business environment was better for small business, I wish there wasn't so much over-regulation that just literally cripples small businesses,’" he added. "If there's lack of leadership, there's lack of profitability, lack of success, there's lack of respect, and we have lack of leadership."
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Meaike said the entrepreneurial spirit that makes America the greatest country in the world is currently stuck in a frustrating situation for young entrepreneurs as the critical presidential election looms.
"If in November we just go, ‘You know what? We're OK with it,’ what happens the next four years? Because you think these four years were hard out there for your family right now… people need to vote with their mind and their hearts," he said.
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Fox News Media’s Suzanne O’Halloran contributed to this report.