Jim Rogers

Why Now?

Good Thing Debt Doesn't Matter! </sarc>

In the early 2000’s, I began to advise friends and associates that much of the world would likely be entering a depression before the decade was out.

• U.S., Allies Demand Russia Stop Attacks on Syria Opposition (BBG)
• Russian Airstrikes Defend Strategic Assad Regime Stronghold on Syria’s Coast (WSJ)
• Emerging Stocks Head for Weekly Advance Before U.S. Jobs Data (BBG)
• Wage Strife Clouds Car-Sales Boom (WSJ)
• Oregon town reels from classroom carnage (Reuters)
• Oregon shooter came from California, described as shy and skittish (Reuters)

The U.S. dollar is looking good worldwide and, in fact, so is gold - it’s just that, at present, the dollar is in the number one spot. But, unlike gold, the dollar is at risk. U.S. debt has placed it in a precarious position from which it will most certainly fall. The dollar is not a truly strong currency; it is essentially, “the best looking horse in the glue factory.” It will be the last to go, but it will indeed go. We may have a bit of time before that happens. Whether it’s measured in months or years, we can’t be certain. A gold mania is not imminent, but we believe it is inevitable.

Five Chinese navy ships are currently operating in the Bering Sea off the coast of Alaska, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, marking the first time the U.S. military has seen them in the area. Why the sudden interest? Because the Chinese have been studying the cycles. From generational theorists William Strauss and Neil Howe, they have learned that political/cultural cycles last only 65 years, and then they collapse, cycles first observed by Taoist monks and Roman philosophers. And China is exactly 66 years advanced since the Chinese Communist Revolution of 1949. In terms of generational cycles, China is on the eve of destruction. (In terms of the Strauss/Howe theory, so are we.)

We previously questioned whether western sanctions imposed on Russia were being regularly breached by E.U. and Asian companies, noting that sanctions only work if all countries unite behind them. Now, only one year after being imposed, the sanctions are eroding as it seems that government and business policies are pulling in opposite directions. A U.S. State Dept. representative may have let the truth slip out recently when he noted, "if you tell us you’re going [to break a sanction], we’ll probably order you not to, but if you go and don’t tell us, we’ll probably do nothing."

"I suspect in the next year or two we will see some kind of major, major problems in the world financial markets. I would suspect when we have this correction, it's going to cause central banks to panic... they will print and spend and borrow, but there comes a time when people are just going to say 'We don’t want to play this game anymore'. And at that point, the world has serious, serious problems because there's nothing to rescue us. I suspect the next economic/financial collapse will be the one they can't deal with."

"...the 'Ice Age' of low rates and low growth for a long time – as predicted by many analysts and economists – won’t happen. Instead, a crisis will cause a crash on Wall Street. The banks will go broke. The credit system will seize up. People will line up at ATMs to get cash and the cash will quickly run out. This will provoke the authorities to go full central bank retard. They will flood the system with “money” of all sorts. The ice will melt into a tidal wave of hyperinflation."

"Water is one of the great opportunities of our times. If you look at the world there are some huge shortages developing in some parts but there is also a lot of water in other parts, just in the wrong place – like water in Siberia for instance, which is not where most people are. There are going to be wars in the Middle East over oil east of the Red Sea, but west of that there will be wars over water since there are serious water problems in that region." Jim Rogers:

Jim Rogers: China is The Future, Whether We Like it or Not. What China Means for the World. If North and South Korea Unite Japan will suffer much. Ideas for investment in Myanmar and North Korea.

Debt, Distraction, Currency Wars, Itchy Fingers

In the 40 years since US President Richard Nixon made what was then considered a bold move, visiting Mao Zedong in Communist China, both countries have changed dramatically. The US has become increasingly socialistic, more focused on Big Government and more of a totalitarian state; shifting from the world’s foremost creditor nation to the world’s foremost debtor nation. By contrast, China has opened up considerably, with billions of people becoming upwardly mobile, in response to China becoming more capitalistic. Increasingly, the US is acting like a country in decline, whilst China is acting like a country on the rise.

This country has gone from being one of the most regulated countries in the OECD to one of the least regulated and as a result the economy has boomed. Many of the wealthiest people in the world have been quietly establishing escape hatches here.

"I’m optimistic about the future of Russia. I was optimistic before this war started in Ukraine, which was instigated by the US, of course. But in any case, I bought more Russia during the Crimea incident, and I’m looking to buy still more. Unfortunately, what’s happening is certainly not good for the United States. It’s driving Russia and Asia together, which means we’re going to suffer in the long run - the US and Europe. Another of the big four Chinese banks opened a branch in Moscow recently. The Iranians are getting closer to the Russians. People are starting to reexamine the propaganda that comes out of Washington. Even the Germans are starting to reassess the situation."