Hello from October 10th 2008. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed yesterday at 8,579 which is a little bit under its close of 8,643 on March 10th 1998.
Does this mean that the global economy could have been put on hold ten years ago and life would be just the same today?
Probably not. People have to eat.
Does it mean that ten years worth of free market profit motive could have been thrown out the window, that executives could have been told to just keep 'er runnin' and life would be just the same as today?
Probably not. There have been winners and losers, and markets have adjusted for changing consumer preferences over the decade.
I don't know what it means.
But it does seem like an appropriate time to ask:
"Have we been making progress?"
I think that the answer is: Yes!
Though we may have to scale down our retirement plans, and start buying the less expensive brand of veggie burgers, our Wikipedia Content Index (WCI) just keeps growing:
And lest we ignore the importance of emerging global cute funds, think of how far we've come since 1998: a world without lolcats.
