Since 1997, I had been preaching the gospel of globalism. I didn’t think there could be anything bigger and more influential than the mighty globalism sweeping the world.
However, by 2016 I knew that trend had come to an end. Not that it had died, but that it was no longer a trend. For almost twenty years, there was nothing bigger than globalism. But, then nationalism and populism started making inroads all over the world.
I thought, now that globalism has leveled off, what’s the next big idea? What’s the next giant leap forward, if any?
So I started reading and thinking and listening and traveling, hoping there would emerge some bigger trend that was healthier and more positive than the inevitable growth of local nativist sentiments manifested in religious fundamentalism and white tribalism. I understood why this was the natural reaction to growth in global trade, technology, and treaties.
One day by accident, I was listening to CNBC and caught the very end of a report mentioning portfolios that started emphasizing “sustainability.”
I had no real knowledge of what the word meant in investment terms.
So, I looked it up on my ipad, and saw that basically a large part of it meant environmentalism. Then I keyed in the words, “How much money do portfolio managers invest in environmental projects?” I was shocked. In the countries of Europe, America, Japan, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, the amount came to $30 trillion.
There are no other countries in the world that come close to these countries in total amounts of private money invested in stocks and bonds. It totals about $92 trillion. And now, all of the sudden, a full one third of that amount is invested in securities dealing with things like clean energy, climate control, deforestation, carbon extraction, etc.
I shared this with my wife and she asked, “Did this happen while we were all asleep?”
My response was a simple, “I guess so.”
I remember when I first started giving lectures on globalism. No one knew what I was talking about. Hardly anyone had heard of globalism. It was as though it was born while “we were all asleep.”
Now, of the 92 trillion invested in stocks and bonds, 30 trillion of that is invested in sustainability or ENVIRONMENTALISM.
And, that percentage continues to grow. Since 2016, the amount invested in sustainability has grown 24%.
The investor class (you and me with our retirement funds and our 401k’s) has spoken.
Believe me, China and Russia don’t have 92 trillion, let alone 30 trillion invested in keeping our planet healthy and beautiful. This is big, really big. This trend in economic might is worth more than those two nations put together. A decade of light and hope is descending down upon the world.
And She Says . . . “Don’t You Understand? You’re An Old Man.”