Economic theory tells us that the value of an investment is the sum of the earnings from the investment discounted over time. As a result, that value can only grow over time as the earnings and the prospect of future earnings grow.

In the decade from 1997 to 2007 many investors, in search of high grow investments, were sucked into one or both of two bubbles (a bubble being defined as investments whose worth is not based upon anything substantive but simply upon expectation). The first was the so-called 'dot com' bubble that burst in 2001. This bubble was caused by expectations that technology would deliver high earnings despite a lack of evidence of that happening. In fact, standard business models - that of delivering cashflow and a profit - were dismissed.

The second was the housing bubble. Domestic property can only create wealth either as rent for a landlord (or the avoidance of rent for a homebuyer) or if a business is run from home. Furthermore, rent can only rise in line with earnings. In the short-term individuals may choose to change their spending patterns and move more of their spending from one item to another. The effect of globalisation and cheap goods, from China and India in particular, facilitated this. However, no individual can spend all his or her income on a mortgage. As a result the housing bubble inevitably burst.

Economics has, at its heart, a belief in human beings. A belief that out there are individuals with the drive and imagination to serve a market place in an innovative way that will generate earnings. The buying of books and recorded music was a large established market. Amazon began to serve that market in an innovative way and so made large earnings and produced spectacular growth for its founders.
That happy situation, growth from substance, is what we are aiming to promote.