Loading summary
Transcript259 lines
- [00:03]
A
All right. Good morning, Doug. We're back. We have some questions from viewers and members of the File. But first I think it's worth talking. Trump is starting to recognize, I think that there's a cost of living crisis in America which he denied not long ago. But he sees a whole bunch of stuff on the PR front to try and lower the costs. And I just want to, I'm going to go through a list, I want to get your feedback on those. And then some big news from yesterday with his board of Peace. I want to get your feedback on that. So first some cost of living proposals recently. A 10 cap on credit card interest. Maybe I'll just go through them all and you can tell me. Yeah, this is, that he's, he's resurfaced this idea of a two thousand dollar rebate or dividend on tariffs to certain American families. Yeah. Rolling out this, getting Congress's support around a couple things. One most favored nation drug pricing offered through Trump rx, I think it is sending money to health savings accounts versus having those federal funds go to insurance companies. He instructed Fannie and Freddie mae to buy $200 billion of mortgage backed securities trying to attempt to lower interest rates. He's floated the 50 year mortgage. I exploded the idea of portable mortgages. So you take your mortgage with you and recently the idea of tapping into your 401k for home down payments. Oh, also I think in the, in the tax bill there's also this thing, I'm pretty sure this is in law that the first $10,000 of interest on your car payments is tax deductible.
- [01:44]
B
Oh, is that right?
- [01:45]
A
Yeah, just like the, no tax on tips and stuff like that. That's in the, in the big beautiful bill that's the past.
- [01:53]
B
Yeah, I guess part of the big because previously wasn't it the maximum that you could tax deduct off your federal taxes of state taxes and interest and wasn't it a $10,000 limit and they.
- [02:09]
A
They raised that if you did like a standard deduction. Yeah, I think that's what it was. Yeah. But then if you do itemized know then there's a whole bunch of other stuff you can potentially do.
- [02:20]
B
Well, nothing like further complicating the tax law so that it's a welfare scheme for tax attorneys and accountants. Whatever they do, whatever they make, whatever they change the tax law.
- [02:30]
A
I preferred his idea of eliminating the IRS like that, that idea that he campaigned on, I think that that was compelling.
- [02:37]
B
Yeah, it was a good thing to campaign on but it's the only way you can do that is if you, the only way you can cut taxes, if you cut spending. But he doesn't seem to understand that because he's raising spending tremendously. Everything from the 500 billion dollar addition to the already bloated federal military budget to all these other things he's giving away. Right.
- [03:00]
A
And the big beautiful bill itself was a massive increase in federal spending.
- [03:04]
B
Yeah, yeah. I mean, the best thing you could say about Trump and his economic plans is that he's a schizophrenic or a manic depressive or a bipolar person, or he just doesn't understand economics, which is absolutely true. But what are those things that he's got there on that list? That one was more stupid than the other, with one exception that I, that I think I remember well, the 10%.
- [03:30]
A
Cap on credit card interest. That was the first one.
- [03:33]
B
Yeah, he, he's got, he's got no, no legal standing to do that. And putting a 10% arbitrary 10% limit on it.
- [03:44]
A
Yeah, why not? Why not five? Why not five?
- [03:47]
B
Yeah. And of course, you know, only really stupid people finance things on their credit cards because we're talking like typically like 20% or more on your credit card. But it just means that as stupid as it is to do that, they're not going to be able to do it because they're bad credit risks. So it's, the whole thing is cockamamie.
- [04:09]
A
Which, you know, again, not saying what's right in terms of ethical perspective or philosophical perspective, but the fact that this would effectively cut off people's access to credit card credit, I mean, I see that as probably a good thing, forcing people to live within their means and not take on more debt. But that is the effect. Like, it would reduce people's available credit. It would, you know, might. People might get canceled all together over it. That's what would happen.
- [04:40]
B
Yeah, yeah. So there's a silver lining to every cloud. And, you know, that's, that's what it would be. These people would be inconvenienced, but it would be for their own good that they'd be inconvenienced. So anyway, he's, he's such a divergist, the French word, that thinks he can run everything like Louis Couture's. Anyway, what was the next thing?
- [05:05]
A
Yeah, that. The $2,000 rebate or tariff. Dividend.
- [05:11]
B
Yeah, dividend of money stolen from the American people because the Americans are the ones that are paying the taxes. So he's going to redistribute the stolen Money to a newly favored class. However he's going to designate who gets the money.
- [05:27]
A
Yeah, I mean what this does is these things over. They just make everything more political. Right. Because it's like it's you choosing the winners and losers and you know, you can choose the, you know, winners that might be politically favorable to you.
- [05:42]
B
So anyway, the concept is stupid. There's a $3 trillion and growing deficit. So there's no dividend. There's no spare money to pay a dividend. Companies can't pay dividends when they're. Anyway, it's not the stupidity but what.
- [05:57]
A
Was the next thing the most favored nation? Drug pricing. Now I like, I, I do like this one and that is that we, the U.S. government does not negotiate drug prices with the drug companies and instead we just, we're a price taker. And so with this it says basically that, you know, they can't charge us more than they charge an average of the, you know, the other G7 countries essentially or something like that.
- [06:27]
B
Yeah, that's understandable. But what does the government have to do with drug prices and drugs to start with? I mean this is.
- [06:34]
A
They're the largest buyer.
- [06:36]
B
Yeah.
- [06:37]
A
Through Medicaid and Medicare.
- [06:39]
B
Yeah, well, which should both be abolished but that's not going to happen either. So.
- [06:47]
A
Sending money, health insurance, health, health savings accounts versus to the insurance companies, that's.
- [06:54]
B
Actually a good idea because if you can, if it's a savings account, would that be like an IRA or an HR where you tax deduct the money that you put into the account?
- [07:05]
A
Is that, that, that is what it is. Yeah. And you can use that for eligible, eligible spending. You know, it's, you can't use it on everything but just eligible things.
- [07:14]
B
Well, that's a good idea because I, listen, I haven't had so called health insurance and it shouldn't be called health insurance. That gives the wrong impressions. Medical expense insurance is what it is, has nothing to do with your health. Just the opposite actually. So. But I haven't had it for many years because I would rather self insure and not have to deal with the bureaucracy of the insurance companies. So this is a good idea. I mean you get to tax deduct your medical expenses. All right, that's, that's great. Deny revenue state and cut these corrupt insurance companies out.
- [07:55]
A
Yeah, no, I like that and I, you know, but it's on, on the health insurance front again, how, how much of a fraud that is? You know the, I think the, the typical health plan for an American family. Let's say with two kids is now $25,000 a year. You know, that you pay just in case something happens. And then of course you have to pay deductibles and there are things that are not covered and it's like it's a gigantic expense for people Just, just in case. And you and your by law you're supposed to have it. So you and your tax return. Well, actually you're I guess a foreign resident, so maybe not are fined if you don't have health insurance.
- [08:37]
B
Yeah. $25,000 per family per year. But the average family doesn't own more. What $75,000 $80,000 is. This is a significant, this is, this is actually insane.
- [08:53]
A
Yeah. I mean a lot of it ends up being paid by their employer, employers in instead of increased wages.
- [08:59]
B
Yeah.
- [08:59]
A
You know how it works out.
- [09:01]
B
Yeah. Listen, the whole system really is going to collapse and it should collapse because anyway, that's, it needs a thousand dollars per year. That's, that's, that's, that's amazing. And it's just.
- [09:19]
A
You know, the one expense that's higher than that, and this will shock, shock you, but if you have two kids that you're. And both parents are working, that child care costs for your kids is, is higher than the health insurance costs.
- [09:34]
B
That's right. Because of course, both, if both the husband and wife have to work, which in today's world they practically do, then they gotta hire somebody for their kids. There's no way around it. This, this is what was 30 grand a year. That's crazy. Well, the, the, a Somali daycare place would probably charge somewhat less.
- [09:57]
A
I think they're, I think their rule is that they don't have anybody there. That's why they're able to charge so little. But they, I don't think that they'll take your kids.
- [10:05]
B
No, no. And I, and I'm not sure that I want my kid taught or by a Somali Muslim anyway. Almost certainly a fraudster. Well, it's, this is what this chap, Mike Green, remember.
- [10:21]
A
Yes, exactly.
- [10:22]
B
The new cycle has driven on where he. $140,000 a year is what you need in order to actually be a member of the middle class.
- [10:32]
A
Right. It caused a lot of controversy, that thing. But it's sounds true, you know, I mean it really feels about right. You know, I know it's not true in all parts of America, but certainly in any part, you know, in any part that's undergoing some. Where there's economic opportunity, I think that's the case, you know, where there are Decent jobs. I think that those costs are right on there.
- [10:57]
B
Yeah. And getting back to the medical costs for a moment, it's of course, almost all doctors these days are part of big regulated practices owned by hospitals or groups like that. And when you go into a doctor's office, all those files are there not for your medical health, but for insurance purposes and liability purposes. And all those employees that he's got are not nurses that are increasing your care. They're people keeping track of governmental required records.
- [11:33]
A
Right. And this is the reason why during COVID there was so little dissent is because the doctors were employees.
- [11:40]
B
Yeah. No, I'm afraid America is well and truly at this point and it's getting worse.
- [11:49]
A
It is the other. Okay, beyond that we've got 50 year mortgages and portable mortgages.
- [11:56]
B
Yeah, that's great. 50 year mortgage. Well, it's like financing for cars which didn't used to exist because you used to pay cash 2 years, 3 years, 5 years, 7 years, then no financing a lease where you. Yeah, so the same thing is happening with houses. And then to make the mortgage portable. Wait a minute. This is a deal between you and the lender. How can the government ensure that? Maybe the lender doesn't want it to be portable. I mean, maybe this is, this is all.
- [12:33]
A
You remember back when they had assumable mortgages.
- [12:36]
B
Yes.
- [12:37]
A
Yeah, I thought that was nice. They got, they got rid of all those though.
- [12:41]
B
Yeah. I don't know why that, I don't know why that happened. I don't know why the. Well, the bank certainly wouldn't want to do. Wouldn't want to do that. Why.
- [12:51]
A
Yeah, but it was, it was, it was, it was a, it was a cool little thing though, you know, where you, you know, it would make, it would unfreeze the real estate market if people could assume a mortgage, you know, from somebody else who, who secured a one and a half percent interest rate versus. I mean, I think this idea is better than a portable mortgage.
- [13:11]
B
Yeah. I'm sure we'll need another bureaucracy to properly.
- [13:18]
A
Yes. And an enforcement arm in case it isn't.
- [13:20]
B
Yes, absolutely. Need one of them. But anyway, you can argue that. Wait a minute, a house is just a long live consumer good. Maybe we'll have assumable mortgages on your cars because cars cost more than houses did when I was growing up anyway.
- [13:37]
A
You know, and the basic fact that we have a 30 year mortgage is part of the reason why the price of real estate is so high. It's that, it's that forced subsidy, you know, that, that it's by, by financing. Just like you have an education, you know, they, they're required or you know, the, the government sort of backs the loans for education, which has caused them to just skyrocket. The prices of education.
- [14:05]
B
God forbid the price of houses ever goes down with everybody being buried under these 30 year mortgages.
- [14:12]
A
I know. Well, I think that's gonna happen. I don't know if there's any way around that. You know, most you think about all these McMansions that are out there. I mean, how many millennials or Gen Z are even interested in owning a McMansion?
- [14:30]
B
Yeah. And even if their parents bequeathed the McMansion to them and they go to sell it, it'll be a. To whom.
- [14:43]
A
Exactly. Exactly.
- [14:44]
B
Right.
- [14:45]
A
I totally agree 100%. And the last one is tapping your 401k for, for home down payments.
- [14:53]
B
Well, that's great. I mean that means that your retirement money, you're not going to have that. It'll be tied up in a McMansion which may or may not have a market.
- [15:04]
A
Right. Which is. Which. So all of these things seem like they're to support demand on homes, nothing to increase supply.
- [15:14]
B
Yeah, exactly. Well, this is what happens when you destroy the monetary system, which the US Government has effectively done with its fiat dollar. You've got to have all these band aids that are taped on the cancer.
- [15:27]
A
Right. Yeah. And I don't. And some of these, you know, all these little makeshift solutions here, like, I think they might play well politically, like the no tax on tips ideas that it did play well politically. But don't fundamentally alter, you know, anything in any way to change the dynamics that might lead to a improving economy or a fixing of markets.
- [15:52]
B
Exactly. And you just have another favored class that benefits anyways. Yeah, it's hopeless. You, you do.
- [16:05]
A
You know the FDR is the person who came up with a 30 year mortgage, don't you?
- [16:10]
B
I guess that's true, isn't it? Yeah.
- [16:12]
A
Yeah. And I'm telling my, my basic thesis about Trump from January was that Trump will alter the relationship between citizens in the state in the way it. As much as FDR did in different ways. But like, and I don't even know which ways, but so substantially that it'll be unrecognizable after it's over.
- [16:35]
B
Yeah. In the American mythos, FDR is deemed to be the best president we ever had, but actually he was, I would say he's the worst. He did the most to destroy what was really America. He, he made it more like A. Anyway, Trump wants to imitate FDR to the greatest degree he can. He really wants to imitate Julius Caesar. But.
- [17:04]
A
Yeah, I think you think you're right. Okay, so the other thing, the big news that came out yesterday was about this board of peace and this. Essentially, Trump has assembled this dream team of individuals to oversee the implementation of the Gaza peace plan. And there's a lot of fanfare in this announcement yesterday about it. And he announced the individuals, the initial individuals that will be make up the, you know, executive board of that. Of that piece or of that board of peace. And I just want to go through the list of names and get your feedback on the list of names he picked here. Of course, he's the chair of it, because he is the peace president.
- [17:48]
B
Of course.
- [17:49]
A
Then you've got Marco Rubio, who's number two. He's got. I don't know if you have a comment on Marco or not in this.
- [17:58]
B
I don't know what I. I don't know what to think about little Marco.
- [18:03]
A
Okay. Steve Witkoff.
- [18:07]
B
Well, Trump's. Trump's buddy that used to run just another New York hustler. The. That's why I see it.
- [18:15]
A
But, yeah, former. Former lawyer turned real estate investor and, you know, now. And I guess a close golfing buddy, longtime friend of Trump. Okay. Who has been parading around working on peace deals with Russia and working on the Gaza deal. He worked on the peace deal with Iran, so he's been very involved. It's like, you know, in a way, acting as our Secretary of state. And anyways.
- [18:43]
B
Yeah. Is Woodcoff a billionaire? I don't. I don't know.
- [18:45]
A
He is a billionaire. Yes.
- [18:47]
B
Yeah. Well, makes sense. Nothing wrong with being a billionaire, of course. But. No, no.
- [18:55]
A
Depends upon how you got it, I'd say. But, yeah.
- [18:58]
B
Yeah, that's right.
- [19:00]
A
Jared Kushner is the next member of this dream team and a member of.
- [19:06]
B
The Trump family, of course.
- [19:09]
A
Yes. And.
- [19:10]
B
And he. I don't know if it's appropriate to have so many Jews on the board when we're talking about a piece of land in the Middle east where Palestinians, where Muslims are living.
- [19:22]
A
Yeah, but it's. Well, they're. I think the plan is that they won't be living there, so.
- [19:28]
B
Of course. Of course. What am I thinking?
- [19:30]
A
And also, I think it's a. It's really important to have Kushner and Witkoff there because they basically are the two guys who came up with this development plan together for. For g. Yeah.
- [19:41]
B
Which is really just. It's just Mind blowing. Oh, well, who else?
- [19:50]
A
Well, one that kind of stands out is very strange considering that, you know, we're supposed to be fighting the deep state and, you know, Trump is. This is a new administration that's doing everything different. Is Sir Tony Blair a British.
- [20:07]
B
I didn't know that they had anything to do with this whole thing.
- [20:12]
A
Well, they've had a lot of. A lot to do with shenanigans in the past relating to the Middle east, that's for sure.
- [20:18]
B
Oh, that's for sure. Yeah, of course.
- [20:21]
A
But you know, just. I mean, he's, he's like, you know, the deep state of the uk like, he's, he's, you know, I don't know who could come to mind more public facing at least than him.
- [20:37]
B
Yeah, well, after Kira Starmer does all the damage he can, Sir Keira Starmer does all the damage he can as the Prime Minister, I guess he'll. He'll be in line to take over the next gospel look like so.
- [20:52]
A
Exactly. Next we've got this guy named Mark Rowan. Now, I hadn't heard of him, but he is the CEO of Apollo Global Management. Now, Glo Apollo is a giant private equity firm.
- [21:10]
B
Private equity? Well, somebody's got to raise money to develop Gaza, right?
- [21:16]
A
Yeah. He's seen as the lead voice on private sector investment and major construction financing. I guess it's not a blackrock guy. At least I guess we could say that.
- [21:27]
B
Yeah. It used to be would be a Goldman. A Goldman guy. And somehow they faded into the background and blackrock arose out of nowhere. It's all mystifying and amazing to me.
- [21:42]
A
Yeah. And next is Ajay Banga, who is the president of the World bank, is expected to coordinate multilateral development funding and economic stabilization programs.
- [21:55]
B
Okay, so money from world taxpayers, which funds the World bank to do something stupid. I mean, everything the World bank has done ever is stupid. They were the ones that wanted to build steel mills in Africa, far from Colts. I mean, one thing after another. Anyway, the question is. Wait a minute. This is none of our. This is. This is none of America's business. I wish the Israelis and the Palestinians well, wish they got along, but this thing is foredoomed to failure. I mean, where are you going to put all those Palestinians?
- [22:31]
A
Somaliland.
- [22:33]
B
Yeah. That's interesting. Why is Israel cozying up with Somaliland which is not recognized by any other country in the world? Should be. I don't see why not. It shouldn't be. But the Houthis have said that they are going to launch attacks on The Israelis, if they start occupying Somaliland.
- [22:55]
A
Yeah, but would they, maybe they wouldn't attack if it's just the Israelis transporting Gazans there.
- [23:01]
B
Yeah, that's right. If it's full of Palestinians. Well, yeah, it's a dog's breakfast anyway. None of our business. None of our, none of Trump's business. Why, why are you obligating the American people and getting the American people in. Involved in another cockamamie scheme in the Middle East?
- [23:22]
A
Right. And you know, to me, the biggest thing is, you know, this sounds like the, the board of directors you might put together for your real estate development company in Gaza is what it kind of looks like to me. That's what you'd have now if it were. Which is what? Way I see it, I see is this is the board of directors for the, you know, the property development firm more than anything else. If it were the board of directors or the executive board for a, you know, the board of peace, wouldn't you have some people that are oriented toward peace, like a, like some sort of moral authority there that could help, you know, negotiate and make sure that, you know, there are good feelings moving forward?
- [24:07]
B
Yeah. What does this have to do with peace? It's about real estate development. If anything, how's peace fit into this, other than good marketing to call it peace?
- [24:15]
A
Well, Trump is good at naming stuff. I mean, he is a pro at that. You got to give him credit. Yeah, but, yeah, you know, this, this moral. It's like I would expect, you know, at least have a token figure of moral authority on here of some.
- [24:31]
B
But we gotta ask it if, if one exists in the world today.
- [24:35]
A
That's the question. And I'd ask our viewers this. If you can think of anybody who has moral authority, meaning that like, they're kind of trusted by all people because their, of their known reputation and character and pattern of fair dealing with others and, you know, self sacrifice for the larger objective. You know, the, those are the kind of qualities that stand out to me about somebody who might have moral authority.
- [25:05]
B
Somebody a worldwide figure of which that would be true, right?
- [25:10]
A
Yeah. If you can think of one, please, in the comments, give us their name. Because before this call, Doug and I were trying to fig think of one. And it's a sign of the times, we think that we can't think of any. We can't think of any. And there are lots from the past, you know, that that could qualify in that role. I mean, you know, you could have Mahatma Gandhi or Nelson Mandela, like agree with these guys or not. You know, they certainly maintained this moral authority. I mean, moral authority is like people like Buddha and Jesus and Socrates. You know, Pope John Paul II even had that. Martin Luther King Jr. You know, you know, these are these figures that in the past have had this, but it seems to be the world is devoid of them today.
- [26:01]
B
Pretty much. The last one to, to kick the bucket, I would say would have been salts and eatson.
- [26:08]
A
Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like, it's, it's weird, actually.
- [26:16]
B
So we're a world without moral authority. And in his interview, his two hour interview with the New York Times a week or so ago, whenever it was that one of the reporters asked him, well, what's your guidepost for doing things? And Trump referenced what was his. It's my. Is my moral sense.
- [26:37]
A
My own. My own. My own morality, period. My own mind.
- [26:43]
B
Yes, exactly. I mean, this is extreme. I mean, this guy is deluded that he thinks that anybody thinks that he's got a sense of personal morality, because he doesn't. He's devoid of any personal philosophy or moral sense at all.
- [27:03]
A
Yeah. And certainly not a moral authority. And it seems like on a peace commission of some kind, you'd want somebody there acting as that. But since it's not really about peace, I think it's fine.
- [27:13]
B
Well, in any way, it's the type of thing you'd expect from a narcissist, which. Of which Trump is a pathological variety of narcissist. Anyway, I know many of our listeners are probably pro Trump. I'm pro Trump, too. Relative to the alternatives that are out there, like Kamala and Waltz, I mean, you have to. Well, maybe you don't have to be. Maybe. Maybe those people were so laughable and manifestly incompetent that maybe as bad as they were, maybe they would have turned out to be better than Trump. Who the hell knows? We're dealing. We're dealing with criminal personalities across the board.
- [27:57]
A
We are. Okay, Doug, some questions for you. First, gemstones used to be a low profile way to store wealth, but seems to have lost favor. Your thoughts on whether this approach is still viable?
- [28:12]
B
Well, I've many, many times in the past since I've been in the investment advice business, I've tried to steer people away from diamonds and gemstones. Generally, chemistry can and has duplicated them. There are several different processes to create diamonds that are more perfect than the natural ones. And I've always said a difference which makes no difference is no difference. So in any way, you're not in a position as a Layman to assess diamonds. I mean, there are specialists that do this. So you're buying something that you really don't know what you're buying. So the whole thing doesn't make any sense. I've never liked diamonds or for that matter, gemstones, and still don't.
- [29:04]
A
Well, and diamond prices have collapsed over the last few years in part because lab grown diamonds prices have described in the process you made, in the process you just described have gone from $300 per carat. Now these produce perfect diamonds to $78 per carat.
- [29:26]
B
Yeah, yeah. So forget about, forget about diamonds. If you have a, if you have a diamond, hit the bid while the bid's still there.
- [29:34]
A
Good idea. Okay. Oh, let's see. What would Doug's choice be for precious metals storage? Singapore or Cayman?
- [29:45]
B
Well, I use Cayman, but I have nothing at all against Singapore. I don't know the group in Singapore. I do know the group personally, SWP and the Caymans. And trust them. Well, insofar as you can trust anybody who's further than you can throw them. But I don't know the group in Singapore. They seem to have a good reputation.
- [30:07]
A
Yeah, I've heard they have a great reputation. And we both personally use swp Cayman. And if you use SWP came in and you tell them that we sent you, we get a tiny kickback from them. So not that that should guide your decision, but if you're going to buy from them, let them know we sent you.
- [30:25]
B
Yep.
- [30:26]
A
Next question. Is Doug concerned about Israel taking over Argentina with Israeli IDF soldiers caught causing the wildfires in Patagonia and Relay's refusal of Chile's firefighting help?
- [30:41]
B
I haven't looked into this, but this is, this is interesting. I'll tell you why. There was a guy that I used to know. He's. He's dead now. I met him when we went on a three month treasure hunting expedition together in the Caribbean. That's a different story. Anyway, his name was George Belcher and George wrote one book and it was about Israel taking over Argentina, Patagonia, actually. This is crazy. This is a self published book that a friend of mine wrote about exactly that.
- [31:16]
A
And I have really, I no idea.
- [31:19]
B
No, this is a true story. I don't know where the damn book is. I actually read it, but I didn't even know that George was Jewish, which he must have been. But anyway, so actually this meme as proven by George's book has been out there for a long time. And I'd point out that after Israel and the US the largest concentration of Jews in Jewish community is Argentina or close to it.
- [31:55]
A
Is Belcher is. How do you spell Belcher? B E L T C H E.
- [31:59]
B
R. No, B E L, C H E R. George Belcher. What was it? What was the name of that book? I mean I've got so many books, it's buried someplace.
- [32:12]
A
Interesting. I'm going to look for it. Well, you know, and to add to this is that Melee recently passed a law allowing foreigners opening up the purchase of the ownership of of certain Argentine territory to foreigner foreign purchase. That and changed the law that said that after a fire it used to be that you could not purchase the property could not be sold for 30 to 40 years and that was eliminated.
- [32:47]
B
Really strange, especially since Melee has or is planning on converting to Judaism. I mean I hate going down these rabbit holes where we don't have absolute, absolute certain knowledge of what's actually going on.
- [33:03]
A
But, but we do know some, some is Israelis have been arrested for cause for starting the fires there. We know that.
- [33:14]
B
Well, I guess we'll have to find out more.
- [33:16]
A
Yeah, weird circumstances for sure. Okay. So suspicious actually. Yeah, quite suspicious. So from the last Doug Casey's Take episode, Doug shined an emotional human element regarding El Salvador's Ms. Gang and sea sought emphasizing living in cages. Does he believe the Ms. Gang should have their human rights restored? If so, how is this human cruelty compared to other prisons like the Isle of Gorgana in Colombia, Isle of Maria in Mexico, Alcatraz in the US which all have closed and reopened to become a tourist destination. Time will tell us if the overcrowding in cages will lead to violence, suicide and total collapse. Like the famous rat experiment by John B. Calhoun.
- [34:08]
B
Yeah, the rat experiments, very interesting. Well look, this is interesting about El Salvador having having been there once and spent just a few days in the place, I, I considered the country uninvestable. But then Bukele comes along and rounds up all these gang members, 60,000 of them, puts them into massive prisons or one massive prison, I'm not sure how many there are. But the pictures we see of that prison, I mean they are stacked shoulder to shoulder like cattle in a feedlot. Now the question that I have is okay, and the nature of El Salvador itself has changed by getting rid of these hardcore criminals. But is everybody that he's locked up a hardcore criminal? Or were just some people with tattoos or false accusations put there? Because apparently they're not trying any of them for actual crimes. I mean, you look like a bad guy. We're locking you Up. Hey, it's transformed the country, okay? That's the good news. But the bad news is who knows, who knows who these people really are because they're not being tried at all. And how long are you going to keep people just locked up in that kind of any kind of prison without an individual trial? I mean, this isn't, this is totally improper. I mean, yeah, I mean, it's criminal to do that. Yeah.
- [35:39]
A
You look at the situation and you go, wow, it really. Something had to be done in El Salvador. What was done had a positive, Had a clearly a positive effect on the, you know, the population, the, you know, that did not get locked up and on the economy there and everything else. And yet if you can just imagine a situation where you are on the wrong side of that and you're the guy like, you brought up Solonitson earlier, you know, sent to the gulag. What do you do wrong? Nothing, you know, and you just think, you know, this, these things wouldn't. These wide swaths of attempting to, you know, go. Group attacks, essentially. You just hate to be on the wrong side of that. And knowing that it can happen to anyone means, you know, you have to think that it could happen to you at some point.
- [36:29]
B
Yeah, exactly. So what is going to happen to these 60,000 people? Are they going to be held there until they're old or until they die? I mean, and is it possible to do that? I mean, is it possible that there. That the El Salvadorian gangs, gang members that are still out there, most of them in the US probably will launch a counter attack of some type to release them? I mean, that's something that they, they might think about. They're their brothers and fathers and uncles that are being locked up like that. I mean, who knows? But you can't, you can't just round up a swath of the population, even if they are mostly bad guys, and lock them up forever without trials. What did they do exactly right?
- [37:19]
A
How can they. And, and what's the path to redemption? You know, like, if they didn't commit a crime, it should be a. For. For some, I agree. You know, the most egregious criminals, there is no path to redemption. But, you know, you have to assume for most that there could be.
- [37:37]
B
Right?
- [37:37]
A
I mean, something, some way they could serve their time, they can, you know, make up some end to it.
- [37:45]
B
Yeah, it's two things. It's a time bomb waiting to go off, I think, and it's a very, very bad example that other governments might decide to imitate and not with mucho malo hombres like they've mostly locked up in El Salvador as a fact.
- [38:05]
A
Right. Okay, next question. Doug wondering what Doug's take on David Webb's great taking book. If stock ownership is appro created in the lawless situation, he describes what can be done to protect one's investment through a stockbroker. Now he says they asked this to Peter Schiff and his Euro Pacific Capital Group. On they asked them whether physical stock certificate ownership would help and here was their reply. Thank you for being a valued customer of Euro Pacific Asset Management and for taking the time to share your concerns with us. We truly understand and trust and security are paramount and we respect your preference for tangible physical assets. Many clients feel more comfortable when they can see and hold what they own. We appreciate you being candid about what matters most to you. We would like to clarify that physical stock certificates are not inherently more secure than electronically held certificate securities. While they may feel more tangible, physical certificates carry risk of loss, theft, damage or destruction. And replacing them can be a lengthy and costly process. Electronic custody is specifically designed to reduce these risks through multiple layers of security, comprehensive audit trails and institutional controls. Providing our clients with peace of mind is something we take pride in. Our custodian maintains strong security protocols and robust infrastructure that is widely used across the industry to safeguard clients assets and personal information. This approach allows for consistency, reliability and protection that would be difficult to replicate with physical documentation. As at this time we do not offer physical stock certificates nor are we aware of specific companies currently offering this service. That's their answer. Now what they don't deny here at all are the realities of what David Webb articulates that if they pull the plug, all this multiple layers of security are going to mean. Jack that's right.
- [39:59]
B
That's exactly, that's exactly right. I mean I'm kind of surprised at Peter's firm kind of defending the status quo. But of course the whole world is getting away from paper and going electronic. So it's a description of the current reality, although it's not addressing the, the worry of the person that asked the question. It's that if they pull the plug or if the government does something, you're sol.
- [40:29]
A
Yeah. Okay, so I think that's a really, I think that's a non response response.
- [40:35]
B
I miss papers, share certificates, I mean, but they're right. They don't exist anymore. You really can't get them.
- [40:44]
A
Well, you, you, you can. It's a pain in the ass. And to do you have to pay a fee to do it. And it's a little lengthy process with the broker. You can. The trouble is, of course, when you want to sell, you have to go reverse that whole process with the broker, and that's a pain in the ass. But this whole idea that, you know, that you could. The certificates could be lost. Yeah, true, but like they say, they're. It's difficult and expensive to replace, but they are replaceable, even if they get lost because there's a record on the other side, you know, that you owned them. So anyway.
- [41:22]
B
Well, listen, I used to have a collection. I don't know where it got to. Of bonds from places like Russia and Primal China and Hungary.
- [41:34]
A
You gotta find that, Doug.
- [41:35]
B
Coupons that you'd clip on the bond. And they're wonderful keepsakes and you can still buy them places just to. That's the way things used to be, but they ain't that way anymore.
- [41:48]
A
You gotta find that collection. I'd love to see it. You gotta find it. I know, I know. You've got so much stuff in so many different places. One of these days you gotta let me rummage a little bit.
- [41:58]
B
I presume it still exists, buried someplace. But if I want to replicate it, I can probably have to go on the Internet and see what they're peddling. Old Russian and Chinese and Hungarian and American and all kinds of bonds that were defaulted on and still have the coupons attached to them, of all things.
- [42:18]
A
Yeah, Michael Yan's got an old bond certificate from a Jewish project in Panama, actually. Yeah, so he's got. He collects interesting stuff like that. All right, next question. It says, I'm very curious to hear a discussion about real estate during the coming economic crisis and dollar devaluation. What will happen to the real estate market? I ask because I own some rental property. I feel like selling the houses to invest in something safer. What should I do with the money once I sell it? I wouldn't want to hold fiat currency. Thanks. And I'm open to any advice right now. Oh, by the way, we can't offer any financial advice like that, just as a general rule. But, Doug, what do you think about the real estate market? What's going to happen?
- [43:06]
B
Yeah, and. And the question is to put the money in someplace safer. And you know, of course gold and silver are safe, but, hey, they're not really cheap anymore. They used to be cheap just a few years ago. They're not so much anymore. So I don't know if that suits your definition of safe or not.
- [43:26]
A
It would for me. I. I bought. I Bought more this week.
- [43:29]
B
Oh yeah. I mean I've got, I've got plenty of physical gold and silver, so. But then again, I actually am, I don't know, we're kind of, we're kind of in a twilight zone where we've reached something that's metaphysically impossible, that everything in the world is overpriced. I didn't think that was possible. Oil maybe. Oil and energy stocks are underpriced. I guess maybe the exception to that.
- [43:59]
A
As far as I'm concerned, gold mining stocks are underpriced still, I think.
- [44:03]
B
And they are underpriced and they're going higher regardless because they're really cheap relative to gold and silver. Yeah. So there's always things out there. But the question is, what do we do? What do you do with your houses? I think the housing market is kind of in a bubble and the problem, the big problem with the housing market, you got to remember it's a consumer good, a long live consumer good, not an investment asset that creates new wealth. So point number one, it's like a, that's one problem with houses. And the other problem is that the whole market rests on borrowed money and that means it's innately leveraged, which makes it dangerous. People start defaulting on their mortgages, they have to sell their houses. Well, once again, to whom, Right. Maybe at a lower price. There's always a market clearing price on everything, so. Right.
- [45:06]
A
But if there's a credit collapse of some kind, you know, these things. And you expect interest rates to go up, not down in the future, right?
- [45:14]
B
Well, I do. I mean, I could tell my, my favorite finance.
- [45:18]
A
Yeah.
- [45:19]
B
Yes, sir. Yeah. About Einstein going to heaven. But yeah, I think interest rates are going up a lot.
- [45:27]
A
Yeah. So I think the only advantage of having, if you have rental property is you do get this tax benefit of being able to, you know, write off the depreciation. Right. You know, against your income and that depending upon your personal situation and how substantial that is for you, you know, my, my, you know, sway the decision one way or another. But if you took that out of the mix to me, it would be hard to hold on to real estate.
- [45:55]
B
Yeah, well, it's a real asset, you know, and of course there's a lot of guys that have made a lot of money. Well, like Robert Kiyosaki is outstanding example.
- [46:04]
A
And the depreciation is like one of the. Has served him extremely well. Yeah.
- [46:09]
B
Yeah. So I don't know. But one of the problems with real estate is it's got to be Managed, you know, you got to deal with the tenants and all that. Well, not for me, but I don't know.
- [46:24]
A
Yeah, I don't have a lot of.
- [46:26]
B
Enthusiasm for it, but I don't. I. I don't. I don't know. It's on the one hand. On the other hand. Type of thing.
- [46:34]
A
Got it. Okay. What are Doug's thoughts on a fund, or average company for that matter, that issues divide in physical gold via custodian vault accounts?
- [46:47]
B
What. What fund might that be?
- [46:49]
A
I don't think there is one that I'm not aware of. Anyone that does that.
- [46:53]
B
I'm not. I'm not either. I've always.
- [46:57]
A
Should.
- [46:58]
B
They should. I always thought that what mining companies that pay dividends should do is pay the dividends in gold, which would be easy to do either physically or by crediting fractional gold with, you know, a fund of some type, of which gold funds. Lots of them exist. So good idea. But I don't know how you do that in practice.
- [47:21]
A
Well, given the fact that we're entering a period of. Of monetary uncertainty with the US Dot, well, with every fiat currency in the world. Is this something you could see as being a possibility in the future?
- [47:36]
B
I do. I actually do. And it should. It should start with gold companies. Instead of selling. Selling the gold going to dollars paying the dividends and dollars just paying the dividends and gold to the shareholders. That would be an excellent first step.
- [47:53]
A
They could use it using a system like tether gold.
- [47:56]
B
Yes.
- [47:56]
A
Yeah. You know, so you get tokens that are gold backed from tether.
- [48:02]
B
Yeah.
- [48:03]
A
For instance. Yeah. Interesting. Yeah. I hope they start doing it. Let's see. What are the names of the two duck paintings behind Doug in most of his interviews?
- [48:15]
B
Well, like this interview, I could, because as I. As I look at our. The image of myself, there they are. These are by. I bought these years ago because I have lots of artwork that I've bought over the years. And these are prints by a guy named Michael Bedard. And the one is called the Failure of Marxism and the other one is called the Failure of Capitalism. Where. I don't know if you can see it, but the two ducks are sitting on a pile of dollars watching the sunset in the west, which it is. So. Yeah.
- [48:53]
A
Then they ask, wouldn't it be cool to be able to purchase prints of these paintings and other file swag at an online file swag store? Well, I will say these paintings are available. You can find them. The prints are online. I. I found one place where the one that people can't See, that's to your left a little further is the first Ducks on Mars. I think it is.
- [49:19]
B
I'm hoping that Elon. I'm hoping Elon Musk watches our podcasts and gives me a giant amount of money for the first Ducks on Mars one because he wants.
- [49:30]
A
Well, you can. I found one online you can buy for 3, $500. So there's one of them. So there are 450 of them. Done. And you have like 370, I think. Yeah. So anyway, so that's available. Yes. An online store of file swag. Yes. If someone wanted to. If it says, I bet AI can put a store together for you in no time or maybe let the community do that. I'd be happy for someone to do it. If someone wanted to do it, that would be great. I don't have enough time.
- [49:59]
B
How can we round up a whole bunch of Bedard Prince to stock?
- [50:03]
A
Yeah, not just that. He says other file or, you know, Casey related swag.
- [50:10]
B
I guess we could sell T shirts and coffee cups. But that's not very original. Is. Isn't.
- [50:18]
A
But maybe somebody can come up with better ideas than that. And who knows, maybe we'd sell a shit ton of coffee cups.
- [50:23]
B
I don't know. People do that. I mean, who is that? Mark Dice makes a living selling Mark Dice swag? Basically, yes.
- [50:30]
A
His shirts. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Especially shirts. Yeah. Okay, let's see. What are Doug's thoughts with everything happened that's happened in Venezuela? Does he suspect some sort of deal between Trump and Maduro was made where he will not be imprisoned, but rather hidden from public eye and live the rest of his life in peace? He said. My first thought is that this will escalate. This will cause further escalations in Eastern Europe and Asia with Russia and China. Does Doug see this as a possibility?
- [50:59]
B
I think Maduro missed his moment. He should have cut a deal, you know, before Trump felt he had to invade for himself and a few of his buddies. I heard. But who knows what you hear, how reliable it is that he wanted to drag along like a hundred of his buddies with a bunch of stolen money and a safe place to live, and that was just a bridge too far. But anyway, that was then, this is now. So what's he going to get? Well, I think he can't get anything better than Noriega got, which is to.
- [51:33]
A
Say he's still in prison.
- [51:35]
B
Yeah, in a prison. Exactly. That's what he's going to get. So he missed his moment.
- [51:42]
A
This. And they'll probably convict him of, you know, the machine gun possession charge even.
- [51:47]
B
Which was the most. Who are these people that Trump hires that add possession of a machine gun? My God, he's. The guy runs an army and he's the head of a foreign country. Why can't I have a machine gun? This is crazy. Who. Who wrote up that indictment document? They should be fired immediately.
- [52:05]
A
I know, it's hilarious.
- [52:06]
B
It's hilarious.
- [52:07]
A
It is hilarious.
- [52:09]
B
These people are total incompetence. Well, than Biden's people, I guess.
- [52:15]
A
But Biden's people were really good at putting people in prison, though. Remember all the J6 guys?
- [52:20]
B
Yeah, they were horrible people. Trump's people are Trump. Listen, anybody that goes to work for the government is suspect.
- [52:31]
A
Okay?
- [52:32]
B
Not the best and the brightest.
- [52:34]
A
No. Another question about SWP in Cayman says you recommend SWP in the Cayman Islands for gold and silver. Have you ever used their precious metals backed securitized notes to earn interest? And if so, what are your thoughts on using gold and silver as collateral in this fashion?
- [52:55]
B
I don't, I have not used it. And I don't want to hypothecate my precious metals at all because when you loan something out, something might go wrong, like the guy doesn't pay it back and then you're in a jackpot. I don't want to get involved. That's not the purpose of these savings. And what are you going to get? 3 or 4% of interest? It's not worth it. Yeah.
- [53:20]
A
I mean, gold is like your last bastion. You know, it's, it's, it's, it's your citadel. It's not the thing you want to take out obligations against. I don't think.
- [53:32]
B
Yeah, I don't want to put it at risk. I mean, everything's at risk in the real world from theft and fraud and God knows what. But I don't want to add an additional layer of risk for just a little bit of return.
- [53:45]
A
Well, especially because you say gold is an asset that is not also someone else's, simultaneously someone else's liability. Right. I mean, why change that? Pure nature.
- [53:57]
B
That's right. And when you lend it out, it is somebody else's liability.
- [54:03]
A
Okay, next question. I'm curious as Doug's thoughts on the very real possibility that the Canadian province of Alberta will vote to become an independent state in 2026 elections. Alberta has approved the proposed referendum question and signature collection to trigger a vote is to begin in January.
- [54:23]
B
Alberta has always been my favorite province in Canada and I, I dearly hope that they secede from Canada and of course, Canada is structured in a way that Canadian provinces can secede much, much more easily. Well, it's impossible for states to secede. That. That has just been settled already.
- [54:44]
A
Settled.
- [54:45]
B
Yeah, but, but it can happen in Canada. I hope it does. And it might actually, and maybe, maybe Saskatchewan will do the same thing too. Their next door neighbor. And Trump would certainly support that for all kinds of reasons that he's indicated.
- [55:03]
A
Well, I think ultimately he does have visions of absorbing Canada one way or another. And a good way to begin that process would be to pick off the most profitable one, the one that produces the wealth for the country.
- [55:17]
B
Of course I'd rather see Alberta become an independent country and not join the U.S. that would be a mistake for them to join the us they should become independent. But that might be harder for a number of reasons. Yeah.
- [55:32]
A
Well, anyway, we wish them luck for sure.
- [55:35]
B
It might happen. I mean, it's quite possible.
- [55:38]
A
Yeah, it'd be awesome. See what, what do you guys think of the prospects of deep underwater autonomous mining? Hopefully hype or the type of. Is it hopeful hype or the type of opportunity for a handful of companies to out compete and deliver outsized returns in uncharted waters?
- [55:57]
B
Well, it. About 15 years ago there were several, not just one, but several underwater mining companies that were floated and raised money and I think they all went bust. One was called Nautilus as I recall. But yeah, I think it's a viable and good idea. Pretty political because of course the greenies say, you can't, you've raped Mother Earth, now you're going to rape Mother Ocean or whoever it is. So. Great idea.
- [56:32]
A
Yeah. And you know, with gold prices where they are now, it changes the dynamics totally for those companies that were attempting to do it 15 years ago.
- [56:40]
B
Yeah.
- [56:41]
A
Plus the technology.
- [56:43]
B
Yeah. And the technology is better, so I'm all for it. Okay. Stock. I, I might play that game.
- [56:52]
A
See? Just a few more questions for you, Doug. During Doug's trips, realizing his hobby that's of trying to reform dog shit countries, were you ever was ever proposed by any of these countries to be their honorary council or, you know, representative of them in some way, did anyone ever offer you any formal role in government?
- [57:14]
B
No. Although there are some advantages to being appointed an honorary council of a country. I mean, you can get her maybe get around parking tickets and things like that, but answer is no. I never took that honorary council stuff seriously. So.
- [57:33]
A
Okay.
- [57:33]
B
I don't know. I guess you, you can do it. I mean, if you have some political connections with the little country and they don't have much representation where you are. Yeah, I don't know what the advantages of it are. There are some. I understand.
- [57:49]
A
Let's see. Do Doug or Matt have any knowledge or opinions on rumors about an imminent Iraqi dinar revaluation? Would this qualify as speculation in the sense of Doug's investing history?
- [58:06]
B
Well, there's a mutual fund group where I'm friendly with one of the principals of that manages funds in obscure countries like Iraq is one of them. Uzbekistan is another one. I'm trying to think of the other funds that this group has. And over the last three years, do you know what the best performing stock market in the world has been? This is a good trivia question. This is. This is hard. This is hard data. The type of thing that people, some people might tune into our podcast to get and probably don't get as much as they'd like, but I got some. And the answer to the question over the last three years is the Iraqi stock market has been the world's best performing stock market, up about 300% in three years. So for what it's worth, I know nothing about what they're going to do with the new dinar or whatever.
- [59:07]
A
Yeah. I'll just say this. There have been. This has been floating around this concept for a long time. I mean, I think even a decade. I've been. We're hearing people talk about this online and the. There aren't many instances of countries revaluing their currency in the positive way at all. You know, there aren't very many of ever doing it. I think there are two that have done it, but they only did it by relatively small amounts, by like increasing something from, you know, one to two ratio to a one to a two and a half ratio. You know, like it's so like a major revaluation to the positive side is. Yeah, I think shouldn't be expected.
- [59:57]
B
No, no, it shouldn't. Shouldn't be expected. Although it's interesting that when ISIS took over, they conquered some ground and they were actually printing gold dinar coins, which are probably wonderful collector's items. Now those ISIS gold dinar coins, where do they take over? What pieces of real estate did they grab that they were.
- [60:21]
A
Well, they got some Iraq and Syria.
- [60:24]
B
Yeah. Yeah. So, hey, I wouldn't mind one of those golden ar. No, no.
- [60:30]
A
It'd be cool to have one of those.
- [60:32]
B
Yeah.
- [60:32]
A
Yeah. Okay. Let's see the question. Someone says, just reading the preparation and got thinking, how can we as a community stop the government from printing money? Surely we must have some power as a society. This is a strange question because the preparation has nothing whatsoever to do with the government printing money. The book is the book Doug and I did as laying out an alternative to university. Although we do discuss economic matters in there to some degree, so.
- [61:04]
B
But nothing to do with what the government should do with the currency, really. I mean that's.
- [61:09]
A
Or if anything, it's implied the government should do nothing with nothing. But what do you think about that? Is there anything that we as society can do to keep the government from printing money?
- [61:24]
B
No, but I think. Except that when you're dealing with, when you're buying or selling with like minded people, I mean, you should think about using gold and silver to trade with each other, not the government's currency. But on the other hand, Gresham's law, you want to get rid of your junk currency and not accumulate your good currency. So nobody's going to really want to pay, even among friends, with gold or silver. You want to be paid in today's environment.
- [62:05]
A
Yeah. Unless you're trying to start a caliphate and you're trying to build trust in your monetary system, I guess.
- [62:11]
B
Yeah, right. But I'm not sure there's really much you can do except when you're talking to, when you're talking to friends, draw their attention to the fact that the dollar is a figment of the government's imagination, in effect a fiat currency.
- [62:33]
A
I mean, government power is dependent upon their ability to print money, so convincing them not to.
- [62:40]
B
And that's dependent upon people accepting it and having trust in the government and. Yeah.
- [62:49]
A
Okay, let's see. Any other questions here? I got one more. Where can I find Casey's Speculation and Development Junior Mining stock plays, I'm assuming mostly in Vancouver or Amex exchanges. Yes, most of the stocks are on the Vancouver exchange, although there are American listings for most of them. And you can find them all if you're a paid subscriber to Crisis Investing. Each month, you know, we publish an issue and at the end of every issue there's a summary of all the stocks that have been recommended. And we had a fantastic year last year, that's for sure, with the portfolio. So if you want that, become a paid subscriber to crisisinvesting.com.
- [63:28]
B
Yeah, and my personal opinion is that this year 26 is going to be even more fantastic year for these little mining stocks. So that's actually a good suggestion. And one other thing, we do have a free and very worthwhile YouTube product called the Experts Roundtable where maybe A dozen guys that really know this stuff, including myself, I've got to say. And you interview mining companies that want to tell their story. And sometimes it's kind of brutal because.
- [64:07]
A
Sometimes, sometimes it's brutal because the guys.
- [64:11]
B
Yeah, they're not always the highest quality, but sometimes extremely good quality.
- [64:16]
A
And, and what the great part about it is, is that you get to watch experts ask questions. Which questions do they ask the executive team when they've got them in front of them? And then you, you hear at the end, you know, whether there are real opinions about these companies. And most of them, there's some that like it and some that don't, and you get to hear, you know, their persp on it. So it's designed to be educational. And actually, the best way to get all those is there is go to experts roundtable.substack.com because they're all published. They can get on the list, and then you'll get emailed every one of them. We just did one of them this last week. We got two more coming up next week where we feature these companies. And if you want to understand how to evaluate these types of companies, these sessions are totally worth watching.
- [65:03]
B
Yeah. Fantastic. Free education. So, you know, I, I, you, you should subscribe to our Crisis Investing newsletter. It's valuable. And you should definitely listen to Experts Roundtable. Both of them.
- [65:18]
A
Yeah. And those are free? Those are free. Okay, Doug, well, thank you very much. I hope you have a fantastic weekend. And we'll be back next week with more.
- [65:26]
B
I can't wait. Matt, thank you.
- [65:28]
A
Thank you.