PERMANENCE

OVER THE CENTURIES, MARKETS HAVE CHANGED A LOT. SMOKE-FILLED GEORGIAN COFFEE HOUSES – NOT TO MENTION ANCIENT FORUMS – ARE A FAR CRY FROM TODAY’S CRYSTAL AND CONCRETE PALACES OF ELECTRONIC TRADING.

And yet much has remained the same. The ups and downs, the booms and busts reflect the constants of human nature: fear and greed don’t go out of fashion. Nevertheless, some important market trends of recent decades could have profound consequences for investors – most notably, the changing purpose of markets.

IN HIS LIFE OF THESEUS, THE GREEK PHILOSOPHER AND HISTORIAN PLUTARCH RECORDS A PARADOX.

Out of respect for the mythical founder of Athens, the citizens preserved the ship in which he returned from Crete after slaying the Minotaur. Over the years, as the ship’s parts rotted, each was replaced. Plank by plank. Nail by nail. The question is: once every part had been renewed, was it still the same ship?

Here we present a timeline exploring how markets have changed over the centuries – and some ways in which they remain unaltered – before going on to explain how the market’s twin purposes of funding enterprise and rewarding investors have become perilously imbalanced.

DUNCAN MACINNES

Fund Manager