The U.S. Dow Jones Industrial Average surpassed 10,000 points on March 29, 1999. Charles Dow, the founder of Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal, created a system 110 years ago on July 3, 1884, to track daily stock price fluctuations centered on 11 companies (mainly railroads). He introduced the Industrial Average on May 26, 1896, and the index, which started at 40.94, grew 245-fold over 103 years to break the 10,000-point mark. The Industrial Average, reorganized into 30 stocks in October 1928, is still widely used today. These 30 stocks (subject to change) remain the blue chips of Wall Street, accounting for about 15% of the U.S. stock market's total market value.

Looking closer at the Dow index: it crossed 100 points in 1906 but collapsed completely with the start of the Great Depression in October 1929. It barely reached 500 on March 12, 1952; 1,000 on November 4, 1972; and 2,000 on January 8, 1987. However, due to the oil shock, it plunged 508 points on the terrifying "Black Monday" of October 19, 1987. It recovered by January 2, 1990, and subsequently broke 3,000 in April 1991, 4,000 in February 1995, and 5,000 in November of the same year. In the following 3 years and 3 months, it rose another 5,000 points—achieving in three years what had previously taken 100 years. This sudden surge seems to have been driven by excessive expectations as the industrial era transitioned into the knowledge era. However, five years later, in August 2004, the Dow has retreated to around 9,700 due to negative factors like the War on Terror, ongoing fiscal deficits, and skyrocketing oil prices. Investors are now suffering losses, failing to even recover interest.

The situation in Korea is much more serious. Since hitting a bottom in March 2003 (515.24), the bull market mostly benefited foreign investors who then exited. After peaking on April 23 of this year (936.06), the market repeated sharp drops, reaching 766.68 as of August 12. Over the last four months, more than 80 trillion won vanished like a bubble from the Korea Stock Exchange alone, with the index falling nearly 20%. In the case of KOSDAQ, about 64% of its value (from 943.00 to 343.42) disappeared between March 22, 2002, and August 12, 2004. Market capitalization plummeted from 73 trillion won to just 27 trillion won, a loss of 46 trillion won. Considering that over 90% of KOSDAQ investors are local individuals, the asset loss for households is massive. This can be put into perspective by the fact that Korea’s general government budget this year is about 118 trillion won. Most of these damages are being borne by domestic retail investors—the "Ant Army"—due to the expert "hit-and-run" tactics of foreign investment firms. Life has become harder for the people.

When the economy is on an upswing, most people can profit from stock investments. However, in a downturn like the current one, there is no easy way out. The real estate market is also stagnating. While policies to prevent speculation and provide opportunities for actual users are well-intentioned, the side effect is a decrease in transactions, leading to falling prices and suspended developments, which in turn kills the construction industry. Without construction, the demand for materials and labor opportunities disappear. The economy is like a cauldron: it is neither easy to heat up nor easy to cool down. Currently, with anti-corporate sentiment prevailing, it seems difficult to reheat the cooled economy. Excessive labor union involvement also discourages investment. Amidst the logic of distribution over growth, resistance to the concentration of economic power, intense international competition, rising prices for oil and raw materials, and shrinking consumer sentiment, it is no wonder stock prices are struggling to rise. As the framework shifts from an industrial society to a knowledge society, all stakeholders must give their all to ensure companies invest in information and technology to gain a competitive edge. "Divide-the-pie" mentalities or anti-corporate sentiments are ultimately self-defeating and, at worst, will lead to mutual destruction.

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