Harvard economic historian Niall Ferguson went on Consuela Mack’s Wealthtrack this week to describe the fall of the West. He starts by naming the six killer apps (his term) that brought the West to prominence over the past 500 years, then explains China and India’s rise due to “downloading those killer apps – it was open access.”
Ferguson also makes interesting points on rising commodities prices and commodities funds, the Fed as the central banker to the world, and the nearness of an “inflection point” in commodities prices on Chinese monetary policy changes.
On his last visit to Mack’s show in 2008, Mack asked Ferguson for an investment recommendation “for long term, diversified portfolios” and Ferguson named Baidu.com stock (Nasdaq: BIDU). Mack notes BIDU has quadruped since then. This time around, Ferguson’s recommended investment is to short commodities.
