Take a trip with me back to 1979. You’re standing in line at a gas station, waiting your turn to purchase fuel at three times its cost from a few short months ago. The oil embargo, coupled with runaway inflation, is eating away at your paycheck. That home you were thinking of purchasing? Out of reach now, thanks to double-digit interest rates imposed by Paul Volcker at the Federal Reserve. Nixon is gone, the gold standard abandoned, and BusinessWeek just released a piece titled “The Death of Equities.”

Not the happiest of times.

You strike up a conversation with the guy from the next car, someone seemingly sensible beyond his years. Out of nowhere, he drops this bit of wisdom: “You know, someday just two companies will be worth as much as the entire U.S. economy right now.”

“Sure thing,

See Full Page