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December 12, 2014 Santiago, Chile Long ago I sold almost all my possessions and left the Land of the Free. It was a decision of optimism and adventure—I realized that there were much richer and more rewarding opportunities to do business, invest, and spend time abroad. The only asset I
December 12, 2014 Santiago, Chile In the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul during the Ottoman Empire it was a familiar site to see a muhtesib or “market inspector” making his way through the stalls. They were in charge of making sure that everything in the marketplace adhered to state regulations. Accompanied
December 11, 2014 Santiago, Chile Exactly 199 years ago, in 1815, a “temporary” committee was established in the US Senate called the Committee on Finance and Uniform National Currency. It was set up to address economic issues and the debt accrued by the US government after the War of 1812.
December 10, 2014 Santiago, Chile As the holiday season approaches you might have mistletoe on your mind for cheery, romantic reasons. What you might not have known however is that the festive flora and its relatives are all actually parasites. Unable to photosynthesize to feed itself, mistletoe latches on to
December 10, 2014 Santiago, Chile When Karl Marx wrote about the bourgeoisie as the “unproductive class” he was writing from personal experience. The foremost champion of the proletariat, Marx never actually belonged to the working class himself. Born into a well-off middle-class family, Marx ascended up the social hierarchy by
December 9, 2014 Santiago, Chile In the moment after the musicians finished their last song, the silence was broken by the faint tune of someone singing “Mu isamaa on minu arm”. The singers on stage quickly looked at each other nervously, but seeing strength in each other’s eyes they began
December 9, 2014 Santiago, Chile When Gregor MacGregor returned to London he was a real celebrity. He had just come back from the New World, where he had a number of successful exploits fighting in the South American struggle for independence and was made the Major-General of the Venezuelan republican
December 8, 2014 London, England [Editor’s note: Tim Price, London-based wealth manager, is filling in for Simon today.] You can be for gold, or you can be for paper, but you cannot possibly be for both. It may soon be time to take a stand. The arguments in favour of
December 5, 2014 Santiago, Chile It seems rather appropriate that just seven days after the US government hit a whopping $18 trillion in debt, mainstream financial media has picked up the IMF’s recent World Economic Outlook report, which puts the US economy as #2 in the world. There’s no shortage
December 5, 2014 Santiago, Chile Making up the highest stratosphere in Japanese society, the samurai had quite a reputation to uphold. Beyond honor and loyalty, they had to keep up appearances by wearing only the highest quality clothing and by being seen in only the best establishments. The samurai image
December 4, 2014 Santiago, Chile One of the great myths about investing that we’re told by the mainstream investment education is that we should “buy and hold” for the long term. I remember being taught in a personal finance class long ago that I should just buy the S&P 500
December 4, 2014 Santiago, Chile On May 15, 1855 one of the greatest gold robberies in history occurred. Three British firms had arranged for some of their gold to be sent from London to Paris by ferry and train. The gold was stored in solidly built boxes secured within iron
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