Asset Rotation: The Demise of Modern Portfolio Theory and the Birth of an Investment Renaissance

CHAPTER 11THE ROAD AHEADReal-World Solutions for a Changing Landscape

Perhaps one of the most overlooked discoveries of the Renaissance period was the advent of the printing press. Without it, the reformation of knowledge for which the Renaissance period is so profoundly remembered, may very well have been lost in time.

The printing press was invented in 1440 by a German blacksmith by the name of Johannes Gutenberg. Up until this time, books had to be copied by hand, and that could often take more than a year for each book, not to mention the people copying these texts very often made mistakes. As one might imagine, without a means by which to provide the masses with widespread distribution of educational content and literary works, illiteracy rates during this period were extremely high.

The printing press enabled scholars and playwrights to spread the word, for the first time to share with the world their new discoveries or creative ambitions. No longer were students reliant on sitting at the feet of their master to acquire knowledge; they could achieve mastery of their own accord.

It was this deeply profound innovation that provided the foundation for all of the great discoveries that took place during the Renaissance period, altering widespread conventions, and leading us to an educational, philosophical, and cultural rebirth.

Even the tiniest of seeds, when provided with the appropriate sustenance and planted in fertile ground, has the potential to grow from a sapling ...