Is Low Stock Market Volatility Bad?

Most investment analysts say that the run of low market volatility in 2017 will end badly. They believe that low volatility leads to a violent and usually negative run. Here’s an alternative view by economist Tyler Cowen. It makes some good points, though it doesn’t depend on data or market history to conclude things can do well for a while longer.

First, the European Union, and not the U.S., really does remain the center of Western civilization. The underappreciated good news is that European growth rates are edging up, the euro as a currency appears to have a more secure future, and Brexit, though I view it as a major mistake for the U.K., is not pulling apart the broader European project. The refugee crisis has stabilized, and right-wing populist parties are not taking over Europe. I see that (legitimate) concerns about the impact of Trump are distracting many people from these quite positive developments.