7 years of famine, 7 years of plenty

Joseph interpreted the dreams as foretelling that seven years of plenty would be followed by seven years of famine, and advised the Pharaoh to store surplus grain during the years of plenty. The Pharaoh acknowledged that Joseph’s proposal was wise and during the seven years of plenty, Joseph ensured that the storehouses were full. When the famine came, Egypt was the only kingdom that had prepared for the seven-year drought. This story contains important lessons for the leaders of developed countries. Frankel says that if we look at recent history, “the first seven-year phase of plentiful capital flows occurred in 1975-1981, with the recycling of petrodollars in the form of loans to developing countries.” Then the years between 1982 and 1989 were called the “lost years.” Between 1989 and 1996 global capital flows led to great growth and between 1997 and 2004 we saw the opposite. Another cycle of inflows occurred in 2004-2011. If history does indeed repeat itself, now is the time for the capital flows to rising markets to stop.