We Asked Meb Faber Why US Stocks Won for 250 Years — And If It Can Continue

Meb Faber, co-founder and CIO of Cambria Investment Management, joins Excess Returns to discuss his new book, Investing in America: The Rise of a 250 Year Bull Market. We explore why the United States became one of the greatest long-term compounding stories in market history, what investors can learn from 250 years of booms and busts, and why Meb can be optimistic about America while still cautious on today’s expensive market-cap-weighted S&P 500. Investing in America: The Rise of a 250 Year Bull Market https://amzn.to/4f1H5Aw Meb Faber on X https://x.com/MebFaber Main topics covered Why America can be viewed as the ultimate venture capital success story How joint stock companies, risk-taking and ownership helped shape the U.S. economy Why studying 250 years of market history changes how investors think about volatility The long-term case for stocks and why the time horizon matters so much Why bear markets are a natural part of capitalism and long-term compounding How U.S. market dominance happened and why it was not preordained Why expensive valuations, low dividend yields and new supply may matter today The role of dividends, buybacks, shareholder yield and reinvestment in long-term returns Why diversification across global stocks, bonds and real assets can help investors stay invested What gold, REITs and foreign stocks teach us about starting points and narratives Why early investing, child investment accounts and compounding can change investor behavior How creative destruction reshapes sectors, companies and the market leaders of each era Why Meb remains optimistic about America while still cautious on parts of the U.S. market Timestamps 00:00 Why America was not guaranteed to become the market winner 01:15 Meb Faber on writing Investing in America 02:25 America as the ultimate venture capital success story 06:22 How a culture of ownership helped the U.S. stock market compound 09:19 Why studying 250 years of market history matters 12:00 Why ownership is the core investing lesson 15:14 Bear markets, recessions and the danger of recent history 18:16 Why U.S. stocks beat the rest of the world by so much 22:20 Lessons from financial history that surprised Meb 27:05 Why stocks can lose for long periods and bonds can win 30:00 Why investors need to get used to being in a drawdown 33:24 Dividends, buybacks and the importance of reinvestment 37:27 Why gold and REITs beat the S&P 500 after 2000 40:55 How balanced portfolios survive different market regimes 43:03 The power of starting early and letting compounding work 48:16 Why global diversification matters outside the U.S. 50:40 Creative destruction, sector change and market leadership 55:20 Why Meb is still optimistic about investing in America 59:33 Where to find the book, Cambria and Meb online