Before the 2016 presidential election, I read a reflection included in a Vanguard Group annual report or prospectus on the impact the election would have on investments. The reflection was tilted towards Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton as best for investors.
Today I received an email from Vanguard with a blog post titled “What the Election Means for Investors”. The premise of the post was “Different parties, similar returns”. Quoting from the article: “The market’s performance has been roughly the same under Republican and Democratic presidents. Over the 95 years they held office from 1860 through 2019, the annualized compound growth rate under Republicans was 8.3%. For the 65 years Democrats held the White House, it averaged out to 8.4%.” (Vanguard Investor News, October 30, 2020)
Vanguard showed some consternation about electing a Democratic president in 2016, but not in 2020. In the current election, Vanguard offers statistics that are neutral. These statistics would have been similar in 2016 but they were shown as pertinent to Vanguard’s election thoughts at that time. I credit the Vanguard team with doing some soul-searching and thoughtful analysis this time around. Either the supposed benefits of a Republican president did not actually appear or other factors outweigh them.
Sometimes we get entrenched in assumptions like “the Republican party is better for investors” or “the Democratic party is better for the environment”. We do well in the political realm both to examine our “norms” and think beyond our narrow interests to the good of all people affected by our choices.
Whatever is Good 