Stockmarket returns in the 20th century: Go-go to oh no | The Economist:
The booms and busts of stockmarkets in the 20th century
A MATHEMATICALLY illiterate look at the ups and downs of stockmarkets in the 20th century suggests that gains made during the three great bull markets vastly outweighed the losses made during the bear markets. That is not necessarily the case. It is impossible for returns to fall by more than 100%—the rather frequent drops of around 50% represent huge destructions of paper wealth. If this is gloomy thought to ponder while markets are closed over the weekend, you can cheer yourself up by reading our cheering briefing on asset markets.
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