The Wealth of Nations
Overview
The world is witnessing a major rebalancing of economic power. Once dominated by the G7 nations, it is today making room for a new and expanding set of rapidly growing economies. The citizens of emerging market countries, while comparatively poor on a per capita GDP basis, are being helped out of poverty by astounding rates of domestic economic growth. For some of the larger developing economies such as China and India, economic progress has catapulted them to a plane where they are able to compete side-by-side with the wealthiest and most advanced nations of the world.
In this paper, Abbot Downing explores the evolution of today’s economic growth through the lens of Adam Smith’s An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, published in 1776. They examine the current post-Great Recession landscape, the intensifying competition from corporations domiciled in rapidly developing economies, the rise of the new global consumer, and the risks that exist in this increasingly interconnected, technology based and information-driven world. Finally, they offer specific investment strategies that attempt to capture the benefits that are certain to come from a world continuing to rebalance its wealth of nations.