The Asset of the Millennium Isn’t What You Think
Here’s a real Y2K surprise — 25 years later.
Partying like it’s 1999 in Frankfurt.
Photographer: Arne Dedert/picture alliance/Getty Images
To get John Authers' newsletter delivered directly to your inbox, sign up here.
The third millennium (assuming it started in January 2000; remember Y2K?) is almost 25 years old. And it makes a sensible landmark on many levels for anyone trying to understand financial history. Jan. 1, 2000, marked almost the exact top of the biggest stock market bubble to date. Vladimir Putin came to power in Russia, nearly to the day. The euro had been initiated a year earlier. China joined the World Trade Organization a year later. The twin towers of the World Trade Center would stand for only another 20 months. And in today’s polarized environment in the US, it’s handy that Democrats have been in power for 13 of the years and the Republicans for 12, so generalizations aren’t making a political point.