BlackRock CEO Larry Fink recently published its annual chairman’s letter noting the significance of America’s 250th anniversary this year, drawing a parallel to a similar milestone for modern economics.
‘In July the United States celebrates the The country’s 250th anniversary. But 2026 is more than an American celebration,” Fink wrote.
“It is a quirk of history that in 1776, when Thomas Jefferson was in Philadelphia drafting the Declaration of Independence, Adam Smith published ‘The Wealth of Nations’ in Scotland – the foundational text of modern economics.”
‘But what started as coincidence has over time grown into interdependence. The two concepts reinforce each other: democracy depends on people feeling that they have a real stake in the future of their country. And the capital markets are now the mechanism that can make that interest real – real in dollars, euros, yen,” he said.
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BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said that democracy and capitalism have become interdependent over the past 250 years. (Paul Morigi/Getty Images)
“Think about how new this all is. In 1776, there was no broad system of capital markets connecting ordinary citizens. economic growth. Today, global capital markets – public and private – approach $300 trillion. And most of that growth has happened in the last forty years,” Fink said.
“BlackRock has grown up alongside this transformation. And what we’ve seen, country after country, is that the stories I just shared are just the beginning,” he wrote.
“Much of the world is still in the early stages of building markets that allow people to not only feed their economies – but also own a meaningful share of the growth they create.”
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The US will celebrate its 250th anniversary as a country in July, while this year will also mark the anniversary of Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations, the foundational text of modern economics. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Fink’s letter discussed how long term investing could bring about a kind of “citizen miracle” in the way financial markets drive economic growth.
“When people invest their savings – over decades, not days – the capital markets put that money to work, financing businesses, infrastructure and jobs. And when that cycle plays out in your own country, your future and that of your country become linked,” Fink wrote.
‘You help finance its growth. It helps fund yours,” he said.
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Fink said long-term investments can serve as a “citizen miracle” that fuels economic growth. (James Carbone/Newsday RM via Getty Images)
Fink went on to say that his belief in the civic wonder of long-term investing is shaped not only by his decades of work in the financial sectorbut also through his upbringing with a father who owned a shoe store and a mother who was an English teacher.
“They didn’t come from a lot of money… But they saved what they could and invested it,” he said.
“This was the 1950s and ’60s, right when the Interstate Highway System was being built in the middle of the last century. industrial boom began to take off and the auto sector reshaped American life. And in their own small way, they helped fund it all. They were part of the capital that built modern America.”
“Over time, the profits flowed back to them. By the time they retired, they had enough savings to live well beyond 100. Because their wealth grew along with the American economy,” Fink said.
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He added that the process continues to play out around the world and that BlackRock’s goal is to help facilitate that civic miracle to grow Americans’ wealth.
“That civic miracle continues to unfold around the world. Expanding it – so that more people can invest in their country’s growth and share in its rewards – is the task ahead,” Fink wrote.
