It’s been a wild ride for the American economy in recent months. The stock market is soaring, a fact former President Donald Trump celebrated as he left office.

But a reminder: the stock market is not the economy.

As share prices climb, so have the number of closed businesses and the number of people out of work. The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated Main Street, even as Wall Street continues to thrive.

Well, that is, until a group of retail investors brought together by an online forum got together to short squeeze hedge funds out of their money, triggering a backlash against financial gatekeepers. And all of that has brought together some unlikely political figures.