What does it mean that ROA has declined since 1965?

Deloitte has been getting attention to its 2009 Shift Index report. The index is hoping to become the 21st century version of the Composite Index of Leading Indicators. Although they do not put it in these terms, the indices are attempting to measure the knowledge economy. There are three main indices made up of a total of 25 indicators. The indices attempt to measure:

• Foundation: computing capacity and networking bandwidth
• Flow: internet activity, knowledge flows and movement of people
• Impact: labor, corporate and brand performance

There is a lot of interest here. But in the marketing of this report, the factoid that I have seen reported from a lot of corners is that since 1965, long-term corporate performance has declined dramatically. Read more