Judging by the performance of the stock market, the economic recovery from the pandemic lockdown should be swift and dramatic, a so-called V-shaped recovery.

If only it were true.

The stock market's recent gains don't tell the full story of the absolute mess the US economy finds itself in, even as the worst of the coronavirus is behind us. Rather, the gains in equity prices are more of an indication of the uneven stimulus methods employed by the feds. These measures will almost certainly benefit Wall Street and market speculation — even as their impact on Main Street will be slow to come.