2016 – Fears of China’s economy slowing, the fall of the Canadian dollar, the collapse of energy prices, left leaning governments that seem to be guided by political agendas rather than economics…
Folks, it’s super scary out there, if you let it be. Of our troubles, no man can see the end.
Which is – are you ready for it – completely normal and absolutely unremarkable.
A brief history lesson. Over the last few decades we have had: The Great Recession, The Tech Wreck, countless wars and economic slowdowns, 9 / 11, Black Monday, stagflation, OPEC, and – my all-time favourite for the least appreciated of near catastrophes – the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Never mind the innumerable events that seemed like a crisis at the time, but were perhaps more hyped than warranted in terms of their potential for skewering the inevitable truths of a capitalistic economy. Examples would include Y2K, SARs, the U.S. fiscal cliff, the tapering of QE 3, Greece …
Obviously the lists go on and on – both for real events of meaningful significance and the more garden variety manufactured crisis du jour. And the lists go way, way back
Flash back to 1857. (Yes, that is not a typo … to 1857) “It is a gloomy moment in the history of our country. Not in the lifetime of most men has there been such grief and deep apprehension; never has the future seemed so incalculable as at this time. The domestic economic situation is in chaos. Our dollar is weak throughout the world. Prices are so high as to be utterly impossible. The political cauldron seethes and bubbles with uncertainty. Russia hangs, as usual, like a cloud, dark and silent, upon the horizon. It is a solemn moment. Of our troubles, no man can see the end.” Harper’s Weeekly.
See what I mean about Groundhog Day? Doesn’t that quote appear to be from this morning’s newspaper?
Want to know a secret? It’s always Groundhog Day. There is always a reason not to invest. Meanwhile, the wonderful businesses of the world continue to find ways to grow and prosper.
This is the vitally important part for people to understand. With all the bad stuff – both real and imagined – that has happened over the last thirty years…
30 years ago today the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 1594.
Today it is at 16,178.
Boom. Mike drop.
