25 March 1957: The Treaty of Rome creates the common market
Six countries, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany, signed the Treaty of Rome, establishing the European Economic Community. It began removing tariffs between members and laid the groundwork for the single market and eventually the euro. Over the following decades European companies gained access to a much larger home market. Peace through trade was the idea; prosperity was the hope.
The lesson: Larger, open markets can help efficient companies grow far beyond their home borders.
What it meant for investors
$1,000 in AEX at the start of 1990 → $6,786 today, vs $19,429 in the S&P 500.
We start the clock at the start of 1990, the first year in our price data after the event. That is 6.8 times the money, but $12,643 less than a plain index fund made over the same years.
What AEX teaches: A small national index can become a concentrated bet on a few companies, so check what you actually own before calling it diversified.
| Bought in | Price then | Worth today | S&P 500 would be |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | $140 | $6,786 | $19,429 |
| 1995 | $200 | $4,750 | $14,783 |
| 2000 | $670 | $1,418 | $4,626 |
green = beat the S&P 500 · red = lost money
What if you bought AEX? Every starting year and the full story →
Could you have called it at the time? The wheel picks the year, you pick the position, ten seconds a pick.
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