More Than Just Another Bubble; Saudi Arabia's Market Capitalization Is Now $450 Billion, Larger Than China's or India's

Byline: Ruchir Sharma (Sharma is co-head of global emerging markets at Morgan Stanley Investment Management.)

Just like the Frenchman who said the Eiffel Tower reminded him of sex because so did everything else, most financial analysts in the world after the NASDAQ boom-bust reflexively dub a sustained rise in any asset price a "bubble." The list runs rather long and includes the "Anglo-Saxon Housing Bubble," the "China Bubble," and the "Commodities Bubble." Now the latest buzz is that the MENA markets--a reference to the Middle East and North Africa--are in the midst of the mother of all bubbles.

The argument is seemingly straightforward. The region's equity markets have risen 500 percent on average over the past five years and are currently 1.5 …

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Publication information: Article title: More Than Just Another Bubble; Saudi Arabia's Market Capitalization Is Now $450 Billion, Larger Than China's or India's. Contributors: Not available. Magazine title: Newsweek International. Publication date: June 6, 2005. Page number: 35. © 2009 Newsweek, Inc. All rights reserved. Any reuse, distribution or alteration without express written permission of Newsweek is prohibited. For permission: www.newsweek.com. COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group.

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