The over 100-year ri...

The over 100-year rise of the U.S. stock market, on the surface, appears as a curve of stock prices; at a deeper level, it is the long-term compounding of civilized values.

What truly makes it remarkable is how it transforms the Protestant ethic’s principles of moderation, diligence, contracts, credit, responsibility, and self-renewal into a financial system capable of continuously creating wealth, selecting enterprises, rewarding innovation, and benefiting ordinary people.