See, for example, Lael Brainard, Why Opportunity and Inclusion Matter to America’s Economic Strength, May 22, 2017, https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/brainard20170522a.htm. Studies have shown inequality is associated with lower long-term growth and with lower income growth. See, for example, Heather Boushey and Carter C. Price, How Are Economic Inequality and Growth Connected: A Review of Recent Research (Washington, DC: Washington Center for Equitable Growth, October 2014), http://equitablegrowth.org/wpcontent/uploads/2014/10/100914-ineq-growth.pdf.
It must be kept in mind, as I pointed out in other contexts, that most bad commercial loans are made during prolonged periods  BIS Review 37/2000  4  of prosperity. I suspect that the experience of bank equity investment has been similar.