MacroSnapsone macro chart a day, free
←→
Get it daily
MacroSnaps15 July 2026
No. 10

Over 200 years, a dollar in stocks became millions; in gold it barely held its value.

Real value of $1 invested in 1802, after inflation, in US stocks versus gold.
Stocks$2,300,000(2024)Gold$4(2024)

Real value of $1 invested in 1802, after inflation, in US stocks versus gold.

Why this is happening
  • Stocks pay out the profits of growing companies and reinvest the rest, so each year of earnings compounds on the last across two centuries.
  • Gold pays nothing; it only roughly tracks the price level, so it preserves value but cannot compound.
  • Tiny differences in annual return become enormous gaps once they run for 200 years.
The take

The equity risk premium compounding over a lifetime is the whole game. Safety that earns nothing is its own kind of loss once you stretch the clock out far enough.

Source: Jeremy Siegel, Stocks for the Long Run
Marketsmacrosnaps.app

Use this chart

Use this chart anywhere, including commercially, and change it if you need to. The one condition is that you credit MacroSnaps and link back to this page. Licence: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).

Embed it

A picture of the chart, linked back. Works anywhere, including in newsletters and Markdown. The credit line comes with it.

Cite it

Cites MacroSnaps for the chart. For the numbers themselves, cite the source below.

Permanent link: https://macrosnaps.app/c/stocks-200-years

The underlying data

MacroSnaps drew this chart. The numbers in it are from Jeremy Siegel, Stocks for the Long Run. Their terms, not ours, govern the underlying data.