The US Is Still No. 1 for Global Investors

When I’m asked whether the U.S. will keep its place as the world’s premier destination for capital, I do not hedge. The answer is yes! Think of Victor Wembanyama. Suppose you were building an NBA franchise from scratch and held the first pick. You would take the 7-foot-4 phenom because you cannot teach size. You might accurately note that he would be even better with another 40 pounds of muscle, but that does not change the fact that he is the most attractive player on the board. You would take him first and then work on adding the muscle. The U.S., despite its flaws, similarly remains that first pick for global capital.

A key reason for U.S. capital dominance is an abundance of dynamic companies. This is where “you cannot teach size” stops being a metaphor. Of the 10 most valuable companies on Earth, eight are American, including the entire top five—the whole starting lineup. Widen the lens to the 25 most valuable, and 20 are American, while Europe claims just one. The combined value of the U.S. names among the world’s 100 largest companies was 2.6 times that of Europe’s a decade ago, 4.5 times by 2020 and 7.6 times today. And notice that Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Nvidia, Meta, Tesla, and the Disneys before them were all founded and scaled here, not in Paris or Munich or Tokyo or Beijing. The U.S. remains the one place where a good idea, a willing capital source and an ambitious founder can reliably find one another.

Half the planet’s market value is sitting in a country with just 4 percent of the global population.

At the start of 2025, the world’s stock markets were worth roughly $128 trillion, of which U.S. equities accounted for about $62 trillion. In other words, half the planet’s market value is sitting in a country with just 4 percent of the global population. American market capitalization is nearly six times China’s and roughly three times all of Europe’s. This is not the result of one good year. It is a chasm reflecting the deepest and most liquid capital markets on Earth, a legal system that enforces contracts relatively well, and companies with genuinely global reach.

Growth tells the same story. In 2025, real U.S. output grew by 2.2 percent, while the eurozone grew about 1 percent and Japan roughly 1.1 percent. The largest advanced economy is growing nearly twice as fast (from a much higher base) as its developed peers. China grew 4 percent per year but from a lower base and amid both a property collapse and a shrinking population. Ask the question: if you won $500 million tomorrow, where would you invest? The honest answer is not Shanghai or Frankfurt. It is the U.S.

What confounds pessimists is that capital keeps arriving even as everyone complains about the U.S. The U.S. remains the largest recipient of foreign direct investment, pulling in $279 billion in 2024, more than the next two countries combined.

Do not confuse ‘could be better’ with ‘is not the best,’ because they are not remotely the same claim.

I have previously said that this is not a pure vote of confidence for America. Rather, it is also a vote of no confidence in everywhere else. Foreign capital behaves like teenagers who spend all afternoon griping about their parents and then, at 6 o’clock, show up for dinner because they like to eat in a comfortable home. Everywhere else, the growth is slower, the courts are murkier, the capital markets are less dynamic, and the exits are narrower. America is not pristine, but it is the least dirty shirt in a very dirty hamper.

And the 40 pounds of muscle is real. The skills gap, the regulatory drag, the volatility, the litigation risk and the debt trajectory are all genuine and need to be addressed. But do not confuse “could be better” with “is not the best,” because they are not remotely the same claim. So, the next time someone asks whether the U.S. can possibly hold its spot given its acknowledged failings, tell them about Wemby.

Dr. Peter Linneman is a principal & founder of Linneman Associates (www.linnemanassociates.com), Professor Emeritus at the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, author of “Real Estate Finance and Investments: Risks and Opportunities,” and co-author of “The Great Age Reboot: Cracking the Longevity Code for a Longer Tomorrow.” Follow Dr. Linneman on X: @P_Linneman

Read the November 2026 issue of CPE.