Since early 2009, when many of the world’s equity markets correctly began to anticipate the end of the Great Recession, investors have enjoyed a remarkably pleasant ride. Of course, there have been rough patches—debt crises in Europe, political impasse in the U.S., persistent deflation in Japan—but markets, especially in the developed world, have generally responded by reaching new highs. I’ve argued previously that these strong returns may well mark the early years of a secular bull market, reminiscent of the period that began in the early 1980s and persisted throughout the next decade.
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