Investors on the prowl for the next big emerging market should look no further than the U.S. That's according to Antoine van Agtmael, who coined the term "emerging markets," according to The Wall Street Journal.

In an interview with the Journal's Jason Zweig, van Agtmael says the country is just embarking on an industrial revitalization. Most analysts are only starting to recognize this. If investors realized the scope of what's about to happen, perhaps they wouldn't have been so eager to get out of stocks over the last year.

Here are five reasons why van Agtmael thinks the U.S. is the next great emerging market, according to Zweig: 

Remember a few decades ago when the U.S. could just ship some Pepsi (PEP) and McDonald's (MCD) over to the Soviet Union and let the cultural imperialism begin? Yeah, that doesn't work nearly as well in China.

Sure, Tom Cruise can still top the box office for 23 straight weeks with Paramount Pictures' (VIA, VIA.B) "Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol," but The New York Times notes that demand for Hollywood films like Warner Brothers' (TWX) "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" and MGM's "Skyfall" isn't nearly as robust. According to ChinaFilmBiz.com, the take for American movies in China during the first quarter fell 65%, to about $200 million, while sales for Chinese-language films rose 128% to well over $500 million.

 

Starting in July, the U.S. gross domestic product will officially jump by 3%. The change isn't due to some miraculous economic event but rather from a shift in the way the government looks at statistics in the digital age.

Brent Moulton, an associate director at the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis, says the revised benchmark economic number will take into account billions of dollars in intangible assets that have previously been left out.

"We’re capitalizing research and development," Moulton told the Financial Times, "and also this category referred to as entertainment, literary and artistic originals, which would be things like motion picture originals, long-lasting television programs, books and sound recordings." 

After serving up a mess at its Red Lobster and Olive Garden chains, Darden International (DRI) is banking on "value" meals to lure diners back. But the big question is whether diners will bite. 

Olive Garden is offering a "buy one, take one" deal, giving diners an option of five entrees with soup or salad. The restaurant then sends a second entree home with the diner. Red Lobster is selling two seafood dinners for $25, while LongHorn Steakhouse is offering similar deals, according to Nation's Restaurant News. 

The question is whether it's too late for Darden, given that diners fled earlier this year amid higher payroll taxes, rising prices at the gas pump and aggressive pricing from other restaurant chains. Bloomin' Brands (BLMN) Outback Steakhouse, for one, offered $10 entrees or 2-for-$20 meal deals. 

 

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) executives wouldn't be blamed for taking some of their own headache medicine, given the government's takeover of three of its Tylenol plants in 2011. 

But now the health care products giant has gotten a bit of bright news. A new report published in Psychological Science found that Tylenol and other medicines with acetaminophen can help alleviate "existential angst."

"Pain extends beyond tissue damage and hurt feelings, and includes the distress and existential angst we feel when we're uncertain or have just experienced something surreal. Regardless of the kind of pain, taking Tylenol seems to inhibit the brain signal that says something is wrong," lead researcher Daniel Randles, a graduate student at the University of British Columbia in Canada, said in a statement.

 

As survivors of last week's horrific Boston Marathon bombings continue to recover, now comes the financial accounting of their injuries, and it isn't pretty. 

While the ultimate cost won't be known for some time, a rough calculation made by NBC News pegs the price tag at $9 million. For victims who lost limbs, their health care expenditures may be particularly high, given the cost of prosthetics and rehabilitation.

"It’s probably on the magnitude of $40,000, $50,000 (per person for emergency-room care). But for the people who will be hospitalized for weeks, you could easily be looking at $150,000 to $200,000 per person," health economist Ted Miller told NBC News. 

Fundraising sites have popped up to help the victims pay for their medical costs, even for those with health coverage, such as Jeff Bauman. 

 

As folks everywhere celebrate Earth Day today, many of them are looking for new ways to get closer to nature. And as winter finally winds down, many states are polishing up their financially important tourism programs to welcome domestic and international visitors. At the moment, the U.S. travel industry is one of the nation's strongest business sectors, now employing 7.7 million people.

Rural America is looking for a piece of that action while tapping the growing desire among vacationers for an authentic connection to the natural world. That's leading a growing number of agricultural producers to consider agritourism as a new source of revenue to not only attract the legion of TV program-inspired "foodies" searching for a locavore culinary experience but also the educated and upwardly mobile tourists looking for a new adventure. People want to know more about where their food comes from and how it's produced.

 

The economic impact of the unprecedented shutdown of the Boston area after this week's marathon bombings will probably be short-lived -- though the psychological effects may linger.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Boston region has an annual gross domestic product of about $325 billion, meaning that it could easily withstand the impact of a single-day disruption.

"A lot of activity that would've taken place today takes place tomorrow or Monday,”  said IHS Global Insight economist Jim Diffely in an interview with Bloomberg News.

There were some exceptions. Conventions that were underway before the governor issued a shutdown order at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center and the Hynes Convention Center were allowed to continue.