Assetts And The Real Economy

This FT article is fascinating. A new survey from McKinsey Global Institute concludes that by the end of 2004 the stock of the world's financial assets totalled $136,000bn, and will exceed $228,000bn by 2010 if current trends persist. Apparently:

"The figures suggest the stock of financial assets grew by a remarkable 15 per cent in 2004, and compares with $53,000bn in 1993 and $12,000bn in 1980......But whereas 45 per cent of global financial assets were held in bank deposits in 1980, that percentage fell to 29 per cent in 2004.....Growth in financial assets has outstripped that of the world economy. Since 1993, assets have expanded by 8.8 per cent a year in the US, 10.4 per cent in the UK,10.9 per cent in the eurozone, 4.7 per cent in Japan and 14.2 per cent in China. About 63 per cent of China's financial assets in 2004 were in the form of bank deposits and "the country continues to amass a sizeable portion of the world's bank deposits", the report says."