If Markets Are Free, I'll Take a Dozen

Esquire, April, 2000 by Ted C. Fishman

ELIAN GONZALEZ, the Cuban boy who reignited the cold war, has forced me to rethink my stock portfolio. As with many American investors and Washington policy makers, my willingness to send my investment dollars abroad to developing economies has been stoked by the hope that money brings progress. Economists call this view the development model, theorizing that foreign investment not only creates wealth but also gives business the civic structures it needs to thrive. Namely, a more open business press and courts that can resolve commercial disputes impartially. When new riches percolate in a fair system, they ignite a kind of political and economic chain reaction; countries grow ever richer and freer. Just like us.

What could make an American investor happier? Getting in...

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