Of course, you're probably thinking our hero, Mr. Greenspan, won't let the market turn sour or raise interest rates. That's what I thought till I read this rather dark contarian point of view. Then there are those who say that we are in a new era, a New Economy. Things are different now, they say. The economy has been globalized and market reforms have increased transparency, enabling investors to make more informed decisions.
More efficient investments lead to faster growth.
The productivity gains in the near future are likely to be phenomenal justifying the record high asset prices of today. There is obviously some truth to this argument or our economy wouldn't have gotten this far. But we have not totally left behind the morass of restricted trade and nationalistic imperatives that dominated the 20 th century. The new economy will not be complete until the current concept of sovereignty is modified to allow, among many other things, free migration for workers, thus relieving wage pressures. Democracy, balanced national budgets, open economies with deregulated industry are by no means universal, yet are all prerequisites for the New Economy.