Americans got richer during the pandemic

During the pandemic, the U.S. government pulled out all the stops to try to keep Americans' financial lives intact. To a stunning degree, it worked.

Why it matters: The pandemic-era actions of the government prevented a spiral of declining asset values, depleted savings and higher household debt.

It is a stark contrast with the 2008 crisis, when there was no widespread private sector debt relief, asset prices plunged, and households spent a decade working through their debt overhang.

The flip side of that is the actions made the federal government's balance sheet worse — with substantially higher public debt — in order to bolster individuals' and companies' balance sheets.