There are very few honest people in the financial world. Marc Faber is one of the few.
“Governments are not smart enough to have thought the current scheme out. The professors, academics (who have never worked a day in their lives in the private sector) and central banks think by having artificially low interest rates you can solve problems. Actually, they aggravate the problems!”
“When central banks print money nothing begins to make sense!” — “It is no longer a free market. Markets are now manipulated by governments and notably by their agents, the central bankers.”
“Basically what central banks have done around the world is to push interest rates to extremely low or even negative rates. I don’t call it a repression. I call it an expropriation of the savers because before the intervention of the banks occurred post 2008, a saver got a decent rate of interest. Now they get nothing at all! So either they speculate or they lose purchasing power over time!”
“The current government and central bank policies are leading to huge asset bubbles in stock, real estate, commodities, collectibles, art and so forth.”
“We had the collapse of the Nasdaq after March 2000. Then the Fed created the housing bubble and after it collapsed after 2007, it had a devastating impact on a very large number of households. Then in 2008 we had a commodities bubble with oil going to $147/bl and now you know where oil is trading at. Its now 1/3 of what it was at that time basically. The Money printing leads to bubbles which they deflate and hurt the majority at the expense of a few people. This is not going to help the economy in the long run – PERIOD!”
“The pension plans and Insurance industry is in deep trouble. They are basically forced to speculate on something. That speculation will end very badly!”
“I am an economist, strategist and investor. The answer to the question of what should an investor do is – I DO NOT KNOW! But people expect me to know so I can tell you what I would do. In the absence of knowing precisely how the end game will be played we should invest in a diversified portfolio of different assets. Some in real estate, some in equities, some in cash & bonds, and some in precious metals.”
“For an investor to not own some precious metals at this point is almost irresponsible!”
“I don’t believe we have currency wars but rather the central bankers, one after the other, prints in a ’round about'”
“Money printing has never ended well in history. It can postpone the problems, but it will make the end result even worse.”
“I believe the Fed will intervene at some point with another round of QE!”
Or pay off your debt!
Too bad that they won’t have a round of bailouts for main street. The middle class is paving the roads,the elite class is driving their Rolls Royce’s on the road. When a sink hole is created in the road we’ll be expected to fix the road again……at our expense.
A fine post. Marc is getting old – like a few others I know – but this post is spot on. There is literally nowhere for the retail (“mom and pop”) investors to safely invest any savings they manage to accumulate that is not endanger of going “POP”..
Meanwhile those relatively small savings loose value even daily (especially in those handful – but growing numbers of- countries where there is negative interest. Only way out? The PM’s and cash. Costs you nothing to hold cash because there is nowhere for it to earn its’ keep (Usually, short term from 3-5%). Those now charging negative interest eat up your funds just a little bit quicker. For “mom and pop” it’s a lose-lose-lose proposition.
MA
Wealth is productivity – food / homes / clothes / durable goods / services (like medical care).
Printing more money will not increase productivity. We can let 10’s of millions more illegals into this country. But we only have the same productivity. In the end the system will blow up – you can’t eat / drive / wear / live in money.
Maybe this will evolve into a system like they have in Star Trek. Money will no longer exist, humanity will move beyond its greedy past and now pursue only knowledge and self-improvement.
Those who cling to the failed past will be like the Ferengi, all treated with contempt like money changers in the temple.
Yeah………..