Thank you for posting the article from The Economist. It makes some very interesting points and is worth some consideration.

The broader issue that the article talks around is this: Why have U.S. stocks done so well as long-term investments? The author throws in a lot of historical background and academic viewpoints, but fails to produce any kind of answer. As a Fool, I think the answer lies within the fabric of American capitalism itself. As a country, we embrace business and entrepreneurship through our form of government, our legal framework, and our social beliefs. This is crucial to business results over great stretches of time. We are a country founded on the ideas of freedom, progress, and self-determination. Is it not surprising, then, that these ideals have fostered a business environment so geared toward new ideas, innovations, and wealth creation, as reflected this century in the returns of the stock market?

I'm not a philospher, so I will stop my pontificating right here. What I am, however, is an investor. And as an investor, I'm bullish not about the next quarterly results of this company or that per se -- I'm bullish about the future prospects of American business during my investing timespan. Long-term investors, by their very definition, must believe in the idea that progress will bring investment returns in the future. If you don't, then you should scrap investing and opt to deploy your money in other pursuits.

The Economist would have served its readership better by examining the long-run performance of specific American companies, rather than the U.S. stock market as a whole. Fools are much more interested in the reasons for the former, rather than the history of the later. Keynes was correct in saying that in the long-run we'll all be dead. But in the long-run, when I'm on my deathbed, folks will still be drinking Coca-Cola. As an investor, that is the important factor to consider today.

Fool on!

Brian Graney