Note: Data as of 2 November 2021; an earlier version of this article was first published in The Business Times on 10 November 2021 There are 7.9 billion individuals in the global economy today. According to the World Federation of Exchanges, an association for exchanges and clearing houses, there are at least 47,919 companies listed in stock exchanges around the world. Estimates on the number of small/medium enterprises (SMEs) worldwide vary widely, but the ones I’ve seen peg the number at between 213 million to 400 million. There is also a litany of problems currently plaguing our globe. The legendary US-based investor, Bill Miller, provided a list of worries in his latest 2021 third-quarter letter: “Today’s worries include, but are not limited to, China’s regulatory actions, high and rising fuel and food prices, labor shortages, inflation or stagflation, the effect of Federal Reserve tapering, disrupted supply chains, potential default due the debt limit standoff ...