How a Sliver of Land in the Middle East Avoided the Credit Crisis

Hi gang,

I've been in Israel the entire week for vacation but in typical "Liz" fashion, couldn't help but figure out a way to tell a most unusual financial story that comes out of this region.  I landed an interview with Israel's central banker. Stanley Fischer is the Ben Bernanke of Israel, trying to keep inflation at bay and the currency stable.  Wednesday I arrived at the Bank of Israel headquarters in Jerusalem.  Once through security, I spent a good 40 minutes with Fischer talking about the challenges he faces, and why Israel may just be the next global Silicon Valley.  While the challenges are many, he and the Bank of Israel managed to launch some preemptive strikes in advance of the global financial crisis that helped Israel keep its head well above water. 

The business climate here is strong.  I was surprised to find that over the past five years, had you put your money in the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, you'd be UP more than 32% vs. putting it in the S&P 500 which, over the same period of time as we with 401k's and 529's know, is DOWN more than 20%.   Below is the link to the foxbusiness.com article.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/economy/safe-boring-investments-saved-nation-financial-contagion/