Читать книгу Balanced Asset Allocation - Lee Bill - Страница 10

Constructing the appropriate asset allocation is always a challenge, but it is particularly difficult in the current economic environment. The reason is simple: The United States and many other developed world economies are fighting through a deleveraging process that is likely to last for a decade or longer. Deleveraging is a fancy term for debt reduction or lowering leverage. When the amount of debt in any economy gets too high relative to the ability to pay it back, then the debt burden must be reduced. But what does this really mean and why is it so important? To effectively answer this central question, I will start at the most basic level.

The economy functions like a machine. Money flows through the machine from buyers to sellers. Buyers exchange their money for goods, services, and financial assets. This is what money is used for, and it is only worth something because you can exchange it for goods, services, and financial assets. Sellers sell these items because they want money. Buyers buy these things to fill a need. Goods and services help support their lifestyles while financial assets are used to preserve and increase wealth over time. An economy is simply the sum of billions of transactions between buyers and sellers. An economy grows when there are a lot of such transactions and it stagnates when the flow of money slows. At a fundamental level it really is that simple.