“What we may be witnessing is not just the end of the Cold War, or the passing of a particular period of post-war history, but the end of history as such… That is, the end point of mankind\’s ideological evolution and the universalization of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government.” -Francis Fukuyama
I’d like to pause our discussion on building an all-weather portfolio today in favor of a big-picture idea.
It’s an idea that’s been rattling around in the back of my head… and I’ve made some investment decisions based on it. But I’ve never fleshed the idea out on paper before.
So please forgive me if the idea isn’t completely formed yet. Sometimes you just have to start writing with what you have and then the rest will come to you…
The quote from Mr. Fukuyama above comes from an essay he wrote in 1989. He titled it The End of History?.
Fukuyama’s essay suggested that the collapse of the Soviet Union marked the end of history. With the communists defeated, Fukuyama said that humanity’s ideological evolution was complete. Thus, the Western liberal democracy as it then existed would last forever.
At the time Fukuyama’s suggestion made a fair amount of sense. It had become clear for the world to see that market-based economies are superior to socialist ones.
After all, it was “morning in America”. The economy was humming. The labor market was strong. And household incomes were on the rise.
Meanwhile, technological developments were powering forward.
Continue reading “The End of History and Saving the Current Financial System – a Developing Thesis”