An American flag flies near the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in the Financial District in New York City on April 8, 2025. Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images

In the past decade, as the U.S. stock market tore up the competition, generating returns three times higher than the average for the rest of the world, a belief took hold that the U.S. has a monopoly on wealth creation. That refrain can be heard even now, when many foreign markets are finally outperforming. But it’s not true and never was.

The drivers of wealth creation outside the U.S. vary in type and impact, from manufacturing in India to metal mines in Canada, defence contracting in Europe and even some state-backed industries in China. But all belie the conventional wisdom that no nation other than America has a bo

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