When Samuel Coleridge famously declared that "If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us", I suspect he had little idea his words would resonate almost two centuries later.

Forget Henry Ford's equally quotable line about history being "bunk", for Coleridge's observation is the more accurate of the two, albeit not every time.

What, from an investment perspective, I find intriguing about Coleridge's comments is when they were written - just before Christmas 1831 - as England was about to embark upon a prolonged spell of virtually full employment and lower food prices.

Admittedly, data showing wage rates, prices and national income' for the period are littered with caveats and most are, inevitably, national abstractions which conceal important local differences within a national pattern.

Nonetheless, economic historians have concluded that following the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, the country enjoyed a quarter-century period of economic growth and coincided with a rise' in living standards.

People ate better food, bought better quality clothes and, as conditions improved, lived longer.

While England was still more than a century away from the advent of its consumer society, there is evidence to suggest that as wages rose, a sizeable proportion of the population had more disposable income.

A much fuller analysis of this development can be found in Peter Mathias's The First Industrial Nation, an economic history of Britain between 1700-1914, which shows that by the end of Queen Victoria's reign, rises in real wages had laid the basis for widespread prosperity.

So what does this brief re-hash of 19th century economic history have to do with modern-day investment?

Well, if we take Coleridge's advice, we might unearth similarities in current economic behaviour and conditions that could conceivably provide investors with a prolonged period of outstanding returns.

In recent weeks, two highly-rated fund managers have highlighted the potential advantages of investing in companies likely to benefit from a rise in domestic consumption in countries as diverse as Brazil, Russia, India and China, collectively referred to as the BRIC nations.

For years, these countries have been viewed solely as sources of natural resources but, as they have engaged in furious global trade, so their respective populations have grown increasingly prosperous.

It follows that consumerism is on the march across the BRIC nations and several fund managers have already identified the trend.

The Allianz RCM BRIC Stars fund, for example, has risen by more than 75 per cent this year and while that might be exceptional, the global emerging markets sector average for the past year is a staggering 43 per cent.

Over the past five years, average values have soared, rising by a colossal 283 per cent.

Occasionally, we can be guilty of investment parochialism', putting our money into equities, bonds, property and funds which appear safe'.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this because at its core, every investment portfolio should have solid foundations.

But after reading comments made by fund managers at JP Morgan and Jupiter, I decided to investigate emerging markets with greater enthusiasm than I had previously displayed.

Then the penny dropped: of course the populations of developing nations want to become consumers, to buy those items we consider essentials' - from televisions to washing machines.

These people have a lot of catching up to do and while their enlightened governments continue to appreciate the benefits of trade and commerce, so investors should heed Coleridge's words and learn from what happened in 19th century Britain - because for the next few decades, it will be happening across the globe, only much faster.