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KIRK KAZANJIAN<br />
GLOBALIZATION: THE WAVE OF THE NEW<br />
MILLENNIUM<br />
Papp feels this globalization of the world will continue to be a<br />
major investment theme throughout the twenty-first century, and<br />
investors who ignore the enormous opportunities overseas do so at<br />
their own peril. “It’s the engine that’s likely to drive our economy for<br />
the next 20 years,” he predicts. “The rate of globalization is accelerating<br />
and be<strong>com</strong>ing more important to us and the rest of the world.”<br />
He wants to exploit this potential by staying in U.S. businesses. “In<br />
the early 1990s, the United States had a $300 billion annual deficit,”<br />
he points out. “We were hooked on a drug. We were hyped. How do<br />
you get off that without collapsing the economy? Nobody thought<br />
you could. Now we have close to a break-even deficit problem. Where<br />
did the additional business <strong>com</strong>e from? I think a large part of it was<br />
globalization.”<br />
Elizabeth Bramwell concurs. She’s convinced that one reason the<br />
market has done so well in the 1980s and 1990s is because freemarket<br />
economies have evolved globally, thus facilitating trade, economic<br />
growth, and rising standards of living around the world. “Interest<br />
rates are low worldwide, and investment bankers are everywhere,”<br />
she notes. “They’re putting money all over the place, including<br />
China and Latin America. Growth begets growth. Because of all the<br />
changes that have taken place, I’m much more aware of international<br />
events. I used to ignore events such as elections in India. I don’t<br />
anymore.”<br />
A GREAT TIME FOR INVESTORS<br />
Papp maintains there’s never been a better time in the history of<br />
the world to be an investor. “I challenge you to tell me when in your<br />
lifetime there was a better time to be living,” Papp offers. “In the depression<br />
thirties? World War II in the forties? The Sputnik Cold War<br />
in the fifties? Vietnam in the sixties? The oil crisis of the seventies?<br />
Or the culmination of the Cold War in the late eighties? Never has<br />
anybody had the expectation of a healthier, longer life than today.<br />
During a recent vacation, I noticed that EPCOT Center had an exhibition<br />
on the quality of life that has resulted from our use of electricity.<br />
They picked out five periods, starting with the late 1800s. The exhibit<br />
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