Same periods in US history, drastically different returns. the most obvious explanation for this is WWII, after which USD became the global reserve, and US has since become the global super power. But how does that translate to greater returns in the equity market? And how can this change if US eventually loses its place on the throne?
B/c US stole everything from Germany, especially all German patents, as well all the technology & research results...
Exceptionalism hid all the faults, so the citizens would be proud and cooperate. Today citizens are disposable, just ask any globalist.
Good industrial policy (invest in new technologies), pro-immigration (soak up talent), and a strong labor pool (educated and healthy). As long as we stay competitive in those areas, there’s no reason why we can’t continue being the global leader. Other countries are too ethnonationalist or are too small (Canada, Australia, New Zealand) to reach critical scale. UK was well positioned within EU but probably made one of the biggest self-owns (Brexit) in modern history. Ask yourself — if you’re a start up in a new technology, where are you going for funding? If you’re a smart person from developing Asia or Africa, or even a smart entrepreneurial person from Europe, where are you going to go to build a career or company? If you’re a smart kid from Ohio or Texas and want to work on incredible and grand projects or businesses, where do you go? The answers still lean heavily to the US.
China has mimicked the US model over the last couple of decades, and have been rapidly catching up in those areas you list, and yet the SSE and Hangseng pale in comparison. Why is that?
Actually, the brain drain to the US slowed markedly in the last 10 years, partly because the US started to make it more difficult to obtain a visa, because of the real and perceived safety concerns in the US and because countries like India and China started investing heavily in STEM. A noteworthy number of Chinese and Indians who had been in the US for a couple decades returned to their countries to start businesses there.