Do the impressive returns in public and private markets stem from strategic financial engineering or reflect actual economic growth?How corporate profit growth is linked to economic growth, even though corporate profits are more volatileHow interest rates, tax rates, and stock buybacks influence corporate profits and stock returnsWhy there are fewer publicly traded stocksHow the increase in leveraged buyouts has impacted the economyHow private equity funds use financial engineering to boost returnsSponsorsNetSuite – Get your free KPI checklistsLinkedIn Jobs – Use this link to post your job for free on LinkedIn JobsInsiders Guide Email NewsletterGet our free Investors' Checklist when you sign up for the free Money for the Rest of Us email newsletterOur Premium ProductsAsset CampMoney for the Rest of Us PlusShow NotesUS CEOs start to contemplate Trump, round 2 by Rana Foroohar—The Financial TimesEnd of an Era: The Coming Long-Run Slowdown in Corporate Profit Growth and Stock Returns by Michael Smolyansky—The Federal Reserve10-Year Stock Market Returns—Crestmont ResearchStock Average—Crestmont ResearchStock EPS Reality—Crestmont ResearchWhat Matters More for Emerging Markets Investors: Economic Growth or EPS Growth? by Jason Hsu Jay Ritter Phillip Wool Yanxiang Zhao—Portfolio Management ResearchNominal Gross Domestic Product for United States—FRED Economic DataThe Secretive Industry Devouring the U.S. Economy by Rogé Karma—The AtlanticKey Drivers Behind Widespread Adoption Of NAV Financing by Matthew K Kerfoot—ProskauerThe Inevitable Rise of NAV Financing by Patricia Teixeira and Anastasia Kaup—Ropes & GrayHAVE EXCHANGE-LISTED FIRMS BECOME LESS IMPORTANT FOR THE ECONOMY? by Frederik P. Schlingemann and René M. Stulz—NBER