As dire as things currently look around the world, noted
investor and author Jim Rogers is warning that things are going
to get a lot worse in the coming years.
American investor and financial commentator Jim Rogers
speaks during the China Hi-Tech Forum 2011 at Shenzhen
Convention and Exhibition Center on November 17, 2011 in
Shenzhen, China. The six-day China Hi-Tech Forum 2011 opened
on Wednesday. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)
In a column
posted on The Daily Reckoning, Rogers painted a scary
picture of the current state of the European Union, recalling
recent terror attacks, cop killings, Britain leaving the EU and
the Deutsche Bank nearly collapsing. But that’s “nothing
compared to what’s coming,” according to Rogers.
“But over the next couple of years, it’s going to get a whole
lot worse,” he wrote. “As economies worsen, there will be more
social unrest, more angry people, and crazier politicians.
Somebody will try to come along on a white horse to save us all,
but she usually makes it worse.”
The investing titan said there are “a lot of similarities
between the 1920s and ‘30s” when communism and fascism surged
around the world. Today, many of the same issues are emerging
once again, he added.
People queue to buy basic food and household items outside a
supermarket in the poor neighbourhood of Lidice, in Caracas,
Venezuela, on May 31, 2016. (Photo: RONALDO
SCHEMIDT/AFP/Getty Images)
Brexit could be a triggering moment. This is another step
in an ongoing deterioration of events. It’s also an
important turning point because it now means the central
banks are going to print even more money. That may prop the
markets up in the short term.
We have a strange economy. Markets look like they’re
fine. But underneath the surface, most stocks are not doing
well. Most stocks around the world are down. Most stocks in
the United States are down. In 2015, when the market
averages were flat, twice as many stocks were down on the
New York stock exchange as were up. And in the last nine
months, earnings are down in the United States. A recession
is starting, it is already in place. But if you look at the
averages and the bond market, they still go up.
[…]
I’m very worried because what we’re facing now can get
worse than anything most of us have seen in our lifetimes.
The world may be overdue for a crisis of that magnitude.
Throughout history, we’ve had periods of severe crisis. I
don’t mean 1968 or 2008, for instance. I mean a serious
crisis with widespread bankruptcies, massive unemployment,
the emergence of dictators, and war.
Societies around the world are already falling apart, or
nearly so. Look at all the recent terrorist attacks and mass
shooting incidents in America and Europe. And look at what’s
happening in Venezuela right now. People are literally
starving. Even the most basic necessities of life are
impossible to find in stores. Hundreds of thousands of
people are trying to get into Colombia to buy food.
Government only makes the problems worse because they don’t
know what they are doing, according to Rogers.
Rogers left his readers with some not-so-optimistic advice:
“Learn history” and “be prepared.”
“If you’re prepared, you will be one of those who survives
whatever happens,” he added. “Because what’s coming is going to
be a mess.”