Emerging Market Economy

A market is any place in which you buy stuff. Like NASDAQ, or a Safeway store, or your enterprising friend’s online edible underwear business.

The above are mature markets. Or…economically mature, anyway.

Emerging markets are generally new players to a given area of interest. Today, Latin America is becoming a mature market; it even hosted an Olympics. But 30 years ago, still reeling from corrupt dictators in various flavors, it was…emerging.

After the war in Vietnam was done and the napalm had been hosed off the smiling seagulls...this entire region became a market that investors took seriously, as they came to leverage their relatively educated and industrious work forces who assembled computer circuit boards, portable CD players, and vibrating, uh...back scratchers.

The concept of emerging markets also applies to product areas; it doesn’t just have to be a country or countries. In 1995, the internet itself was an emerging product market. It hadn’t existed before. It was very small for about five minutes. And then it just…emerged.

Today, there are essentially zero businesses that aren’t internet business.

Related or Semi-related Video

Finance: What Are Emerging Markets?34 Views

00:00

finance a la shmoop. what are emerging markets? well a market is any place in

00:08

which you buy stuff, like Nasdaq or a Safeway store, or your enterprising

00:12

friends online edible underwear business. well the above are mature markets or [edible underwear website shown]

00:17

economically mature anyway. emerging markets are generally new players to a

00:22

given area of interest. today Latin America is becoming a mature market it

00:27

even hosted an Olympics. but thirty years ago still reeling from corrupt dictators

00:33

in various flavors Latin America was emerging. after the war in Vietnam was

00:38

done and the Napalm had been hosed off that smiling seagulls, this entire region [napalm exploding]

00:43

became a market that investors took seriously as they came to leverage their

00:47

relatively educated and industrious workforces who assembled computer [factory workers put together products]

00:51

circuit boards portable CD players and those weird electronic dogs that were

00:56

pretty sure can see into your soul. well the concept of emerging markets also

01:01

applies to product areas it doesn't just have to be a geography you know a

01:05

country or countries. in 1995 the internet itself was an emerging product

01:10

market. it had never existed before. it was very small for about oh five [America online pictured]

01:15

minutes. and then it emerged. today there are essentially zero businesses that

01:19

aren't internet businesses. it has emerged.

Find other enlightening terms in Shmoop Finance Genius Bar(f)