The American Spectator

Special Report

(Page 2 of 2)

/p>

Wall Street's conventional macro-economic view focuses on the consumer as the primary engine of economic growth. This myopic demand-driven perspective is poorly suited to capture the dynamism of the current production-driven global expansion. And it is clear from the list above that an investment outlook focused on the consumer has missed out on much of the action over the past five years.

Drill down further through the sectors to the 140 industry and sub-industry groups as defined by Thomson Financial and you find more of the same. The top five performing industries for the past 5 years (5/11/07):

p>Diverse Metal/Mining +521% br> Oil & Gas Refining +386% br> Steel +359% br> Consumer Electronics +312% br> Agriculture Chemicals and Fertilizer +307% /p>

Four of the five industries are big beneficiaries of global growth that outstripped worldwide capacity in their arenas -- the result great pricing power and exploding earnings. The words of the great 19th century economist, Jean-Baptiste Say come to mind, "Supply creates its own demand."

The message of the market's recent action may be that we have passed through a discontinuity. Or to use NASCAR parlance; a slingshot maneuver has taken place and the U.S. economy now finds itself tucked snuggly behind the developing economies and for the most part enjoying the ride.

topics:
Health Care, Economics, Energy, Oil