Edit: I should have titled this "Best Markets vs. Best Economy" When was the best market during your lifetime? (during what years) When was the best economy during your lifetime? (during what years) As this venue is traders, I can only guess a better market is more coveted by the concensus then a better economy, but that's where we distinguish the selfless from the selfish. Which is more important to you - better markets or a better economy?
Best economy. Early to mid sixties in the post sputnik era. Lots of money for science research and science education. And defense spending, while still insane, was relatively under control, as Vietnam had not yet blown up in our faces. Lots of good jobs. Outsourcing had not yet been invented. The "great society" had not yet had much impact on educational quality in the US. Many voters still got their news from newspapers and magazines. Television had not yet had much of an impact on introspective thinking. Energy was still cheap and plentiful and Americans were still free to indulge themselves in their wasteful lifestyles. They told themselves that they were the greatest nation on Earth, and they were -- not because of any inherent superiority as they believed, but by default, because their nation, unlike the other great nations, had not just twenty years prior been bombed into rubble. The early sixties, definitely.
As a child I was informed that people used to rush the trains to get the news in any given town. Imagine life without Al Gore's Internet!!! Or Henry Paulson's Depression!!!