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In Venezuela, hyperinflation has become so pitiful that shopkeepers are no longer bothering to actually count money. Instead, they’re weighing it… … as in literally pulling out a scale and weighing giant stacks of money. Do you want to buy a bottle of Coca Cola? That’ll be 1 kilo of currency please. One
In 524 BC, a group of pirates set sail for Sifnos, an ancient Greek island famed for its vast gold and silver mines. The mines of Sifnos were unparalleled in the ancient world. They produced so much gold and silver that the local government at Sifnos could erect countless monuments, invest in new
The latest apocalypse du jour, following in the footsteps of Brexit and the Donald Trump election, is Italy’s Constitutional referendum that takes place this weekend. Global financial media is in a panic about this, suggesting that a “NO” vote will lead to total chaos in Europe. The referendum itself isn’t particularly revolutionary; Italians
It’s happening faster than we could have ever imagined. Every time we turn around, it seems, there’s another major assault in the War on Cash. India is the most notable recent example– the embarrassing debacle a few weeks ago in which the government, overnight, “demonetized” its two largest denominations of cash, leaving an
In late January of the year 98 AD, after decades of turmoil, instability, inflation, and war, Romans welcomed a prominent solider named Trajan as their new Emperor. Prior to Trajan, Romans had suffered immeasurably, from the madness of Nero to the ruthless autocracy of Domitian, to the chaos of 68-69 AD when, in
My friend Richard got destroyed by the system. As a financial advisor in Sacramento, California, he spent years building a thriving firm and has even landed a few celebrity clients. Richard did well for himself. Successful. Married. Wonderful kids. Financially secure. But back in 2008 things started to turn sour. His wife left
There are two words that kept coming up over and over again over the last 20+ months during the US Presidential circus: “fair share”. Hardly a day went by without hearing that certain taxpayers “need to pay more of their fair share.” It sounds really great, and given the voter statistics, this idea
In light of the insanity that has transpired over the last several weeks, today I thought I would show you a beautiful, forgotten corner of the world. This is a video that my friend Shawn took of his home in New Zealand. He lives in a very small town, and his house is
OK, this is pretty nuts. According to data released by the Treasury Department yesterday, the US national debt has soared by a whopping $294 billion since the start of the 2017 fiscal year, just 45 days ago. That’s an annualized increase of 13%. So if they keep up this pace, the national debt
Less than a week after India’s surprise move to scrap its highest denomination cash notes, another front in the War on Cash has intensified down under in Australia. Yesterday, banking giant UBS proposed that eliminating Australia’s $100 and $50 bills would be “good for the economy and good for the banks.” (How convenient
When I was in Texas over the weekend taking a quick break from a whirlwind trip around the world, I went to one of the biggest shopping malls in Dallas to buy a birthday present for the CFO of our agriculture business. The mall is called the Galleria, and it’s particularly interesting for
Bleary-eyed from the 16+ hour flight from Asia, I checked my phone last night once the plane landed to find that riots have broken out across the Land of the Free. It was enough to wake me from my jet lag. All the televisions in the airport terminal were showing footage of the
Several months ago, the voters of the United Kingdom chose to walk away from the European Union. They called it “Brexit”. And it rocked the world. The entire establishment– banks, businesses, media, politicians, celebrities– had been pushing the British people to remain in the European Union. And all the so-called experts scared the
One of the most consistent aspects of travel is that, no matter where I go, the Clinton News Network (CNN) follows me around like the albatross in Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner. I walk into an airport lounge, there it is. I hit a hotel lobby, there it is. I go for breakfast,
What do you think have been the best performing assets over the past several years? Perhaps it’s Facebook stock, whose price is up 3.2x since it debuted in 2012. Or maybe Apple, whose stock has soared 4x since 2010. But neither of those companies’ stock performances holds a candle to Colorado’s sixth Congressional
