One big benefit in being a U.S. investor is the home field advantage we have in simply being Americans.
In short, we are the most economically competitive country in world history. By almost any measure, America is the most innovative nation on earth.
• We generate the most patents per capita. According to Harvard Business School professor Juan Enriquez, it takes about 3,000 Americans to generate one U.S. patent, compared to 4,000 Japanese, 6,000 Taiwanese, 1.2 million Mexicans, 1.8 million Brazilians, 10 million Chinese and 21 million Indonesians.
• We conduct more research and development than any other nation. The United States funds 44% of the total worldwide investment in R & D - equal to the combined total of Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany and Italy (National Science Board's 2002 S&E indicators).
• American scientific output is greater, as measured by scientific publications per million population, than the EU and Japan (708 to 613 and 498 respectively) (1999 data compiled by the EU).
• Our labs and universities remain a more attractive destination for the best and brightest young minds in the world. 85% of the PhDs who come here from China remain in the U.S. because it's a better place to live and do business. By contrast, many European Union nations remain challenged when trying to attract top scientists and students from places such as India and China.
• Our culture rewards risk, encourages entrepreneurship, celebrates success and upholds the rule of law more than any other.
• And of most significance to us today, Americans have enjoyed the most rational, predictable and transparent framework for intellectual property rights in the world, encouraging investment and incenting innovation.
I bring this up in today's blog not as a flag-waving patriot, although there is certainly nothing wrong with that, but as a Wall Street realist. To make money in the investment world, you need good industries and good companies to choose from.
As the evidence shows, the U.S has those in abundance.