US equities have dominated the past 10 years
The Warren Buffett wisdom about buying stocks for the long haul is skewed by a US-centric view. The long-term trend in US equities is incredible but it's not matched globally. It's more of a sign of American global economic dominance and expansion than something magical about corporate structure.
Consider this list, from Charlie Biello. It shows that among the global country ETFs, the media return over the past decade is 2.6% per year and that's in a period of expansion and calm in most of the world.
What's even more incredible is that FX has been a headwind for US markets. The US dollar has only been outperformed by the Swiss franc in the past 10 years. The numbers here are FX adjusted but AUD, CAD and EUR are down more than 23% against the US dollar in that time and sterling is down 33%.
What's truly scary is what will happen if the US market ever starts performing like the rest of the world, rather than like a massive outlier. You often hear analysts talk about how China needs 7% growth to sustain itself. Well the S&P 500 needs to do about the same or the crying will start.
