Ugh, not the artificial stock market crap again. The bottom line is that countries with the most wealth are typically not producing economies, they naturally become service oriented. It's supply and demand - if you could produce a glass for $5 here but another country makes the exact same glass for $3, as a business that is a no brainer. It's not the fault of the 'economy' but the fault of business if you want to place blame. The stock market is the way that the general population can value certain companies with no intermediary. We all individually have access to own these companies and during times of economic shock or stress, valuations never make sense. The common thread is that rationalization always plays out and fair valuation eventually comes out. The human psychology controls this, not an 'entity.'