Capitalism: Israel Is Real
November 23, 2007 at 9:01 am
Fans and boosters of Israel have long had one sore point — the country’s old-country style socialist economy. For decades the government-heavy labor-driven style has smothered capitalist, entrepreneurial growth.
Those days may fortunately be coming to an end.
We read this in Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine:
The Israeli stock market is on a roll. Over the past five years to October 15, the Tel Aviv 100-stock index gained a healthy 29% annualized.
Now comes word that Israel’s market is being called up to the big leagues, which should result in yet a higher profile for Israeli stocks. The FTSE Group, keeper of more than 100,000 stock, bond and hedge-fund indexes, says it will promote Israel from emerging-market to developed-nation status next June. Because more investors buy into developed markets than emerging nations, the change will pump an additional $3 billion into Israeli stocks, estimates Merrill Lynch strategist Michael Hartnett.
A happy development for the war on socialism, adding to Israel’s many successes in the war on terrorism.
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