It is the cue for analysts at Deutsche Bank to remind investors how much can change in the course of 25 years, in this case from the days when Nokia phones and fax machines, rather than iPhones and Amazon, were daily features of life.
Here's one jaw-dropper: back in the sunny days of 1999, there was a live debate about when the US would pay down its entire stock of government debt.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reckoned the glorious day would arrive sometime in 2013. In reality, borrowing headed in the other direction almost immediately - and the US debt-to-GDP ratio is now above 100%.
The CBO reckons annual deficits will take the ratio to 160% by 2050.
Delusional dotcom thinking provoked ridiculous speculation about the stock market.
A book called Dow 36,000 predicted the Dow Jones industrial average, then about 10,000, would hit the named level "within a few years". It took 22 years.
Deutsche calculates that, for stock market investors, the quarter century wasn't much to shout about.
This story is from the December 27, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the December 27, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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