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June 23, 2014 Undisclosed location No one ever thinks about the water. Or the toilet paper, as it were. But these are among the many, many staples that become luxuries when one’s nation is in crisis. Hours ago, the local gas company in Kiev (Kyivenergo) announced that they would be shutting off the
June 20, 2014 Bangkok, Thailand With a nod to the absurd, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen freely admitted earlier this week that the Fed really has no idea what’s going to happen to the economy. Bear in mind this is the person who controls interest rates in the United States, effectively setting the
June 18, 2014 Bangkok, Thailand “Whoever is winning at the moment will always seem to be invincible.” — George Orwell Wise words indeed as they aptly describe misguided confidence in the US dollar. The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), which helps manage the global banking system, tells us that US dollar
June 17, 2014 Shanghai, China In one of the most comprehensive studies ever conducted of China’s bubblicious property market, Professor Gan Li at Texas A&M University estimates that there are a whopping 49 million vacant homes in China right now. As a percentage, this is twice the vacancy rate that the US housing
June 17, 2014 Bali, Indonesia [Editor’s note: This letter was written by Sovereign Man’s Chief Investment Strategist Tim Staermose.] 49 million empty houses and apartments. That’s the situation in China according to new research from Gan Li at Texas A&M University. Professor Gan conducted the most comprehensive survey to date of the Chinese
June 16, 2014 Shanghai, China Here’s the good news: Nie Zhenbang, a Chinese agronomy expert and former director of the Chinese State Grain Administration, recently announced that 2013 was a record year for Chinese grain production. Here’s the not so good news: “Although the number is huge,” said Nie, “it still could not
June 12, 2014 Florence, Italy In February 1964, a 22-year old Cassius Clay (later Muhammad Ali) faced off against a gigantic Sonny Liston, the heavyweight boxing champion of the world. Liston was an imposing opponent. I mean– this was a guy with mob ties who learned to box while serving hard time in
June 11, 2014 Florence, Italy ‘Creativity’ isn’t usually a word associated with ‘government’. Words like stodgy, bureaucratic, and incompetent are typically more appropriate. But there is at least one area where bankrupt governments in particular tend to be exceptionally creative—finding unique ways to steal people’s money. And over the last few years, one
June 9, 2014 London, England [Editor’s Note: This column was written by Tim Price, Director of Investment at PFP Wealth Management and frequent Sovereign Man contributor.] “Are we finished ? The answer is no.” – Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank, 5th June 2014, having just cut ECB deposit rates to
June 9, 2014 En route to Europe Henry Ford once said, “It is well that the people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.” He was right about at least one thing– it’s true that
June 6, 2014 Hamilton, Bermuda Like most people, I love the beach. And Bermuda has plenty of really great beaches. It’s lovely here– advanced, civilized, and friendly. But let’s be honest, there are a lot of places in the world with great beaches. What really sets Bermuda apart– what makes it unique– is
June 4, 2014 New York City In August 1939, just days before Hitler’s invasion into southern Poland, General Wilhelm List walked the lines of his German 14th Army making final checks and inspections. He must have thought it strange– between Army Group North and Army Group South, there were over one million German
[Editor’s note: This missive was penned by Tim Price, frequent Sovereign Man contributor and Director of Investment at PFP Wealth Management in the UK.] “I say to all those who bet against Greece and against Europe: you lost and Greece won. You lost and Europe won.” – Jean-Claude Juncker, former prime minister of
May 30, 2014 Santiago, Chile Along with history, travel is by far one of the best teachers. Formal education in classrooms can be stifling to the mind. It makes people believe that the world actually conforms to all the snazzy theories we read about. But there’s no economic textbook on the planet that
May 29, 2014 Santiago, Chile “Every fool aspired to be a knave,” wrote Charles Mackay in his seminal work Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds (1841). Mackay was talking about the South Sea Bubble of 1720—an epic financial disaster in which the stock price of Britain’s South Sea Company soared from
