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Tuesday's stock market record proves the definitive triumph of capital over labor in the era of COVID-19.

Why it matters: The recession has caused the size of the American economic pie to shrink substantially. But the share of that pie going to capital rather than labor has continued to rise.

Driving the news: The S&P 500 closed at a record high of 3,390 on Tuesday, a gain of 55% from its March low point in the space of just 105 trading sessions.

The big picture: It's easy to view the stock-market rally as happening despite the fact that more than 28 million Americans are claiming unemployment benefits. But perhaps the stock market is soaring in large part because of the continued unemployment crisis.

How it works: Historically, about two thirds of economic output went to workers in exchange for their labor, with the other third being retained by owners. But since 2000, that ratio has been plunging.

  • Now that America's workforce has been decimated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the share of national income being kept by workers could hit a new record low.

The bottom line: It's unclear how or whether workers will be able to regroup and reclaim more of the fruits of their labor. So long as capital retains the upper hand, an increasing share of corporate revenues will show up as profits. Which is good news for anybody owning stocks.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.