Why Has the U.S. Stock Market Done So Well? And Can It Continue?

The U.S. is on a winning streak. Four years running, through political turmoil and Covid-19, American stock markets have beaten the world. As we hit the second anniversary of the pandemic, investors should be asking whether it can continue.

Few would have predicted it would turn out this way. The U.S. has had the worst response to Covid in the developed world by two key measures: the highest death rate and lowest vaccination rate. Yet U.S. stocks have returned more than double the gains in the rest of the world since the end of 2019.