September 12, 2010

Stock exchange versus the economy

"You have to distinguish between two things — the Swedish economy and the Swedish stock market. The Swedish economy is the sum of all the goods and services that are produced in this country every day. ... That's the Swedish economy, and it's just as strong or weak today as it was a week ago. ...

"The Stock Exchange is something very different. There is no economy and no production of goods and services. There are only fantasies in which people from one hour to the next decide that this or that company is worth so many billions, more or less. It doesn't have a thing to do with reality or with the Swedish economy."

—The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson