Seeking Alpha by Adding Beta

Many folks have heard about "Marshall" Plan which helped rebuild Europe after WWII which completely destroyed Europe. For a small history lesson, check out details of Marshall Plan . Europe is on brink of financial disaster again with fears of cascading defaults if Greece is allowed to go under. And that would not only bring down Europe but potential of another great recession across world. It would be 2008/2009 all over again. So what would make Europe hold together and not bring world economy to its knee ? That's where we can learn from post WWII history. During the four years that the plan was operational, US $13 billion in economic and technical assistance was given to help the recovery of the European countries that had joined in the  Organization for European Economic Co-operation . This $13 billion was in the context of a U.S. GDP of $258 billion in 1948, and was on top of $12 billion in American aid to Europe between the end of the war and the start of the Plan th...

Ten year anniversary of 9/11 is upon us. Ten years back on 9/11, America and to some extent world changed forever! For first ever time, America understood real meaning of terrorism. Till that day, it was always something which happens in Kashmir or middle-east.  While that day was unfortunate, what followed with two wars (one unnecessary one in Iraq) changed America. For many, it was lost decade (and still counting). I was just looking at S&P performance over these 10 years. It has gone up by meagre 3.5% in 10 years. There goes your buy and hold strategy which all pundits recommended. 10 year is a long time for someone to hold onto their investments and in return getting only 3.5% in capital appreciation. As we enter into 2nd decade of post 9/11 America, what should policymakers and most importantly we as American citizens do ? First and most important thing - get out of Iraq and Afghanistan by ending both wars. That should save enough money to invest in domestic infrastructu...