For The Archives: The USA Is Back -- Thanks To The Bakken

Link here to CarpeDiem. 

Here's a little bit from that link, but you have got to go to the link to get the full story. It is simply quite staggering:

It’s the best-kept secret in the economics media: The United States is on the brink of a period of solid, long-term growth rivaling that of the 1950s and 1960s. It is not a finance-driven, self-destructive boom, like the 2000s’ housing bubble. No, the new economy will be durably grounded in energy and heavy manufacturing, even though it will take several years to come to full fruition.

Why haven’t you heard about the boom? Official economic forecasters, like the International Monetary Fund and the Congressional Budget Office, simply have not factored America’s emerging new economy into their forecasts. Instead, they still see us limping along at an average of 2 to 2.5 percent real (after inflation) growth to the farthest horizon — a hobbled, aging power, borne down by debts and deficits, shorn of its old bounce-back vigor, tottering along just fast enough to stave off out-and-out stagnation.

This is not an investment site, but my hunch is that young people with $500/month to invest (and follow through with that habit) will have quite a portfolio in 30 years. There are at least four things that young investors have today that older investors did not have 30 and 40 years ago:

a) information: I had day-old information from the WSJ when I first started investing 40 years ago; and that was it; pretty much hi, lo, p/e, and div;

b) discount brokers and immediate trades: until Schwab came along, we only had full service brokers with huge fees and a fast trade took a 10-minute phone call (while the broker tried to churn one's portfolio);

c) tax-deferred investment accounts: IRAs came first; then Roth IRAs; then 401(c)'s and (k)'s or whatever they are now; the federal government has an incredible Thrift Savings Program that is unmatched anywhere for the "little investor"; and,

d) many young investors today are going to inherit a fair amount of money from their parents, Baby Boomers; and, from their grandparents, members of the greatest generation. To the best of my knowledge, Baby Boomers represent the first American generation that were able to save more than they spent.

One can add any number of other advantages, I'm sure, and the ones listed above won't hold true for every young investor, but one gets the point. I'm sure Warren Buffett, John Neff, and John Bogle would all agree.