Right now, the entire economy is running on paper gains. Stocks surge, portfolios balloon, everyone feels richer. But here's the uncomfortable truth: this wealth isn't anchored to anything solid. It's numbers on screens, valuations built on sentiment. And what inflates overnight can deflate just as fast. When confidence cracks, all that paper wealth evaporates—sometimes before you even realize what's happening. We've seen this movie before, and the ending is never pretty.