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November 21, 2013 Miami, Florida Today I’m in Miami at a conference on Global Residency and Citizenship where I’m slated to speak this afternoon as part of a panel. So far it’s been really interesting; there are several Presidents, Prime Ministers, Finance Ministers, Ambassadors, etc. from a number of countries– Malta, Cyprus, St.
November 19, 2013 En route from Hong Kong to the United States Senator Tom Carper (Delaware) is confused about Bitcoin. As Chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, this is how Carper framed his opening remarks yesterday at a hearing about digital currencies– with complete, incoherent confusion. Carper’s hearing
November 18, 2013 Hong Kong You’ve probably heard by now that there’s a politician in Russia trying to ban the dollar, calling it a Ponzi scheme. 20 years ago this would have been considered blasphemous. 10 years ago it would have been laughed at. Today, it’s taken seriously. And with good reason. If
November 14, 2013 Bangkok, Thailand “It’s a big club…. and you ain’t in it.” – George Carlin Irony: The woman who is set to become one of the most powerful people in the world begins her confirmation hearing today. And few people have ever even heard of her. It must be a byproduct
November 13, 2013 Singapore By the early 4th century AD, the Roman Empire was suffering tremendous turmoil, including plague, barbarian invasions, deep recession, civil wars, coups, etc. Much of this had been brought on by Rome’s utterly dismal economic condition. The government simply did not have enough money to sustain its operations, let
November 11, 2013 Singapore I’m here today with about 100 special guests who have flown in to Singapore from all corners of the world for an intensive 2-day offshore tactics workshop. Singapore is a great place to hold such an event as it’s easily one of the most financially stable jurisdictions on the
November 6, 2013 Bangkok, Thailand Last week, the US Treasury Department released a statement amid great fanfare and triumph, that the federal budget deficit for fiscal year 2013 was ‘only’ $680 billion. Yes, the sad state of affairs today is that a deficit of ‘only’ $680 billion is actually considered good news. Now,
November 5, 2013 Bangkok, Thailand [Editor’s Note: What follows was originally published in Notes from the Field exactly one year ago.] Just over 400-years ago today, a group of 13 conspirators were caught trying to assassinate King James I of England and blow up the House of Lords in what became known as
November 1, 2013 Bangkok, Thailand “Yes, I believe it is in the nation’s best interest to put all the phone records into a lockbox that we could search.” — General Keith B. Alexander, Director of the NSA, September 2013 These government chimpanzees are truly amazing. Despite an interminable series of embarrassing scandals, they
October 31, 2013 Sydney, Australia Hot off the presses, the IRS just issued a notice of its annual inflation adjustments for the 2014 tax year. According to the release, the inflation adjustment is 1.6%. So now, for example, couples earning more than $457,600 will fall in the 39.6% marginal tax bracket, as opposed
October 31, 2013 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Just 18 months ago, Brazil’s Eike Batista was one of the richest men in the world with an estimated fortune of over $34 billion, nipping at the heels of Bill Gates and Carlos Slim. To put this figure in perspective, his wealth exceeded the GDPs
October 30, 2013 Santiago, Chile [Editor’s note: Darren Kaiser, author of Sovereign Man’s Chile Property Investment Black Paper, is filling in today while Simon is en route to Asia.] Look around the world from an investment perspective these days, nothing seems particularly cheap. And finding safe places to park capital is a little
October 28, 2013 Sovereign Valley Farm, Chile You know the old rule of thumb about laws– The more high-sounding the legislation, the more destructive its consequences. Case in point, HR 3293– the recently introduced Debt Limit Reform Act. Sounds great, right? After all, reforming the debt seems like a terrific idea. Except that’s
October 24, 2013 Hong Kong [Editor’s note: Tim Staermose, Sovereign Man’s Chief Investment Strategist, is filling in for Simon today.] China’s major cities have a huge air-pollution problem. And in other breaking news, the Pope is Catholic. It’s obvious that all the heavy industry, coal-fired power plants, and choking traffic congestion, etc. have
October 23, 2013 Santiago, Chile In the 13th century, Marco Polo wrote with utter astonishment at the paper currency standard he witnessed in China: “[a]ll these pieces of paper are, issued with as much solemnity and authority as if they were of pure gold or silver… and indeed everybody takes them readily. .
