A graph from the May 2008 issue of Harvard Business Review tells a story about the dumbing down of the global economy.
From an article, Rebuilding the R&D Engine in Big Pharma [subscription required] the graph shows the total shareholder returns for various industries in two time periods: from 1985 to 2000 and from 2001 to 2007. Here are three of the leading sectors from 1985 to 2000 (average annual shareholder returns are in parentheses):
- Pharmaceuticals (20.0%)
- Financials (18.8%)
- IT (17.4%)
Between 2001 and 2007, three of the leading sectors were:
- Energy (15.2%)
- Materials (14.3%)
- Financials (7.0%)
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Closing Bell: Torch Passing on a Friday Rally
