[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Haven't read it, but may apply:
The Citizen Shareholder: Modernizing the Agency Paradigm to Reflect How and Why a Majority of Americans Invest in the Market

I don't need to read an article to understand why a majority of Americans have some position in the stock market. The transaction cost sunk to zero, and no other investment vehicle has returned so much, so consistently, for so long. If there's no barrier to entry, and no better alternative (perfect knowledge of the future being impossible), the better question would be why some Americans are not invested.