TINA: There Is No Alternative

“TINA” which means “There is no alternative” is a popular phrase used in financial media.

TINA is a phrase that originated with the Victorian philosopher Herbert Spencer.

But the phrase is forever associated with Margaret Thatcher, former prime minister of the United Kingdom, in the 1980s.

The phrase was used to signify Thatcher’s claim that the market economy is the only system that works, and that debate about this is over.

Today, it is often used by the financial media to explain a less-than-ideal portfolio allocation, usually of overvalued bonds and/or stocks, because other asset classes offer even worse returns.

A recent example is when the U.S. equity markets hit all-time highs in early 2020. That climb was nicknamed the “TINA market”.

It meant that because central banks around the world were holding interest rates so low, investors had little choice but to buy U.S. equities (because bonds were unattractive).

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