A few learnings from this chapter,

1. The US dominates global equity markets. The United States represents roughly 49–50% of global stock market capitalisation, while India accounts for around 4%, highlighting the scale difference between the two markets.

2. Market leadership changes over time. Britain dominated global markets in the 19th century, Japan briefly became the largest market in 1989, and today the United States holds the leading position.

3. Size alone does not guarantee investment success. Japan once accounted for 42% of global market capitalisation, but after its asset bubble burst in 1989, the Nikkei took 34 years to recover, showing that the largest market can still become overvalued.

4. Structural advantages helped the US pull ahead. Higher corporate profitability, technology-driven business models, longer growth cycles among large companies, and a dynamic workforce supported by immigration have all contributed to US market dominance.

5. Global investors already have significant US exposure. Because global index funds are weighted by market size, a typical global portfolio already allocates around half of its exposure to US equities.