Two things: living bridges and share prices.
An interesting item on Deskarati describes people in Northern India who build bridges across mountain streams using living tree roots. It works well in an area where streams run as a trickle for most of the year and as raging torrents in the monsoon season. Such a bridge will last for half a millennium, but several generations of careful husbandry are needed before it is strong enough to be useful.
What a far sighted investment to make: building a bridge which, if your children and grandchildren work on it with care, will be useful to your great-great-great-great grandchildren!
By contrast, thinking about the current market turbulence, I Googled for “long term FTSE” and got several sites all based on the assumption that 12 months is the “longest term” anyone would be interested in.
No wonder our markets are in such a mess. It takes more than a year to build a new factory, or a school, an office block or a ship.
But the people of Meghalaya think centuries ahead. For them, “the long term” is far longer than the life span of one human.
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