US-led recovery expected for late 2002

If inflation remains low and stable, equities should once again become the asset class of choice when the global economy recovers

Bearish phases in the equity markets have tended to come and go with the cycles. They invariably give way to doubts about the long-term case for equities. The concern is natural enough ' even secular trends eventually change and the question many are asking is whether the long bull market enjoyed by investors over the past two decades is over. Looking back, a correction in equity markets was bound to follow the trebling of oil prices that took place during 1999 and 2000. The acceleration in inflation that this induced and the central banks' response to the higher inflation exerted a vic...