Of populism and profits
Investors may be too sanguine
IF YOU look at the headlines, geopolitical risk is at record highs, with populism and strife in Europe, a coup attempt in Turkey, a tense election in America, the threat of terrorism, and tensions in the South China Sea. Peer at a stock-price screen, however, and everything seems fine. This month the S&P 500 index of big American firms roared to a new high. Benjamin Graham, a famous investor, described America’s stockmarket as a manic depressive. But now it appears to be one of the planet’s last, incorrigible optimists.
This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “Of populism and profits”
From the July 23rd 2016 edition
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