Category: simonblack

By the time Wang Mang seized the imperial throne of China’s Han dynasty in the year 9 AD, he had already been a long-standing politician and government bureaucrat with decades of experience.

Not that Wang’s experience was especially helpful to the people of China.

As a seasoned politician, Wang’s biggest skills were setting up his opponents, cheating his way to the throne, and coming up with terrible ideas to destroy prosperity.

China’s Han dynasty had once been the pinnacle of civilization, most likely even surpassing the grandeur and wealth of the Roman Republic and ancient Greece. But Wang was one of the key figures who helped tear it down.

As emperor he was a total disaster. Wang had a thing for social and economic justice… so he imposed a bunch of idiotic land reforms to reduce inequality and form a more egalitarian society.

Instead of the ‘justice’ that he had envisioned, agricultural production plummeted and a lot of people went hungry.

Failing to see his error in judgment, Wang Mang doubled down by nationalizing entire industries, which only stifled investment and entrepreneurship.

Soon the Chinese economy was in the dumps. Prices soared. So the Emperor then (naturally) hatched the genius idea of imposing severe price controls… resulting in even more shortages and economic hardship.

He then tried to fix the shortages by taking over the labor market and essentially try to control what everyone did and where they worked.

But Emperor Wang’s wasn’t quite finished with his crusade for justice. He tried to pay for his mistakes by severely debasing the currency… which caused even more inflation and social unrest.

Wang Mang’s story is one of how complete and total incompetence results in disastrous consequences for an entire nation. History has witnessed countless other examples… and we’re seeing it play out again in our own time.

Today’s incompetent leadership is just as bad as Wang Mang; as I spelled out in yesterday’s missive, the US government has lost all ability to live within its means. They have spent trillions of dollars on their perverted ‘justice’ programs and environmental crusades.

Spending has gotten so bad that a $2 trillion yearly deficit is NOTHING anymore. Yet the continued accumulation of these deficits has created a gargantuan national debt.

As I mentioned yesterday, MOST of US national debt will mature over the next several years. Since the Treasury Department clearly does not have the money to pay back $25+ trillion in debt, their only option will be to issue NEW debt to pay off the old debt.

The problem, of course, is that the new debt comes with MUCH higher interest rates… and I explained that simply paying interest on the debt could exceed $2 trillion within the next five years.

On top of that, mandatory entitlement spending like Social Security and Medicare will hit $3 trillion. This means that just paying for Social Security/Medicare, and interest on the debt, could exceed 100% of tax revenue.

This scenario is potentially just five years away. At that point, it will be almost impossible for investors to have confidence in US government bonds.

US government bonds have long been considered the safest asset in the world. But if the Treasury Department has to blow $2 trillion just to pay interest, investors will quickly start looking for other safe havens. And one of those will be gold.

Think about it: there’s (currently) $32+ trillion in total US government bonds. This is MUCH larger than the gold market. So if even a small fraction of that US debt were to flow into gold instead, the gold price would go through the roof.

But there’s another scenario to consider, which frankly I think is more likely: the Fed steps in to save the US government.

One of the key reasons why the US government is in trouble (aside from their horrific spending habits) is that interest rates are so much higher than they used to be.

So the Fed can help the government out by slashing interest rates back down to 0%, which will make it affordable for the US government to finance its debt.

But this would come at a consequence; if the Fed slashes rates back down to zero, this would almost certainly result in another nasty bout of inflation… which would also mean higher gold prices.

So either scenario is bullish for gold.

Of course these two scenarios don’t even scratch the surface of all the political, financial, and economic problems in the US.

For example, there are still major risks lurking in the US banking system, including the fact that the Federal Reserve itself is hopelessly insolvent.

Social Security has less than a decade until it needs a bailout to the tune of tens of trillions of dollars.

And there’s also the likely possibility of the US dollar losing its dominance as the global reserve currency, likely this decade.

Gold should perform extremely well in any of these scenarios.

So in what scenario does gold NOT do well?

Well, gold does poorly in the “everything is just fine” scenario.

The war ends. Sensible politicians reign in spending. China plays nice and stops threatening to invade Taiwan. Economic growth goes through the roof. Inflation falls due to high levels of productivity and relative peace. Global trade booms.

As I’ve written before, this scenario is completely achievable, presuming competent leaders were in charge. And I’m really rooting for it.

In this scenario, gold would become a pointless relic… but I would happily welcome that outcome because everything else would be fantastic.

Unfortunately that scenario is unlikely… because the world is being run by a bunch of morons like Wang Mang.

If you feel like the trend in the world is more stupidity, more war, more socialism, more bad leadership, then you really ought to consider owning gold. In my view, a $5,000+ gold price is a pretty conservative estimate of where things go from here.

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“Scary” is the word that the Wall Street Journal used this weekend to describe the looming financial crisis in the US.

They said bluntly, “Washington has laid the seeds of a crisis that Wall Street can no longer ignore.”

I’ve been writing about this for 14 years; back then, it was highly controversial… almost conspiratorial… to suggest that the US government was in deep financial trouble. Today it’s front page news in the most prominent financial publication in the world.

To give you an idea of the problem, we can once again look at the government’s own data:

According to the Treasury Department’s most recent report from July 31, they’ve taken in $3.69 trillion in tax revenue so far this fiscal year.

Yet they’ve spent nearly $1.8 trillion on Social Security and Medicare, $726 billion paying interest on the debt, almost $900 billion on the military and veterans benefits.

In short, there’s only $284 billion left over for everything else in government. National parks. Homeland Security. The light bill at the White House. And $284 billion doesn’t go very far anymore.

Bear in mind that these people have spent (rather ominously) $666 billion so far this fiscal year just on “income security” alone, which is basically welfare and food stamps.

That’s why the budget deficit is already $1.6 trillion; by the time the fiscal year ends in September, it will probably be around $2 trillion… which is a complete train wreck by any standard.

Even worse is that this isn’t a one-off bad year. A $2 trillion deficit is actually a pretty good year for these people.

Before COVID, at the close of the 2019 Fiscal Year, the US national debt was $22.7 trillion. Today it’s nearly 50% greater, at $32.7 trillion. And it grows leaps and bounds every year.

The scariest part of the problem is that most of the US national debt was accumulated over the past 10-15 years (and especially the last 3-4 years) when interest rates were historically low.

That’s why the average interest rate on US government bonds back in, say, August of 2021, was just 1.45%. Rates were super low back then, and the government could borrow for almost nothing.

Today it’s a different story. All of the new debt that the Treasury Department borrows today carries much higher rates, upwards of 5%.

And this is an enormous problem for the US government: MOST of the current national debt will mature over the next five years.

But since Uncle Sam doesn’t have $32 trillion lying around, they won’t be able to pay that money back. Instead, they’ll refinance the debt by issuing new bonds to pay back the old bonds. Frankly it’s a bit of a Ponzi scheme.

But the new debt they issue won’t be at the ultra-low rates of the past. The government will have to pay whatever the current interest rates are— perhaps 5% or more.

And if the average interest rate on US government debt rises to 5% over the next few years, then they would have to spend a whopping $2 trillion just to pay interest each year.

On top of that, the annual bill for Social Security and Medicare would reach roughly $3 trillion.

Think about it— JUST paying interest, plus Social Security and Medicare, would exceed ALL federal tax revenue.

The US government will find itself in a position where they’ll need to borrow money and go deeper into debt just to fund the military, let alone everything else the government does.

Again, I’ve been writing about this for 14 years, so this analysis and conclusion is nothing new for long time readers.

But this looming fiscal crisis is very quickly becoming a mainstream issue. This means you’ll start seeing it more in the news… which will compel politicians to say something.

Their knee jerk reaction will be to raise taxes… which conforms to the rising popularity of socialism. For some reason there are still growing numbers of people who foolishly believe that high taxes and government spending create prosperity.

The other thing that is almost inevitable is that the Federal Reserve will start slashing interest rates again. No Fed Chairman wants to be held responsible for bankrupting the federal government. The only way to push this crisis further down the road is by returning to historically low rates.

So we can probably expect a reduction in interest rates, simply to bail out the federal government. And this would most likely lead to sustained, higher inflation.

In theory this is all fixable. America still has time to solve its gargantuan challenges. But time is rapidly running out.

And it’s for this reason why I’ve written for so long about having a Plan B… because, based on the government’s current trajectory, they’re just making things worse.

One key element of a Plan B in my opinion is considering real assets.

A real asset is a valuable resource that requires hard work, talent and ingenuity to produce, and cannot be conjured out of thin air by politicians or central bankers.

Real assets are scarce. They have universal value. And they are productive, or can at least be put to productive use.

Gold is an obvious example. It takes a lot of effort to produce an ounce of gold, and gold can be put to productive use. Most of all, central banks cannot conjure it out of thin air like they can print trillions of dollars.

This is the case with most commodities as well.

However some commodities are far more valuable and in-demand than others. Agriculture and energy, for example, are the most important resources in the world and will always be in demand.

Productive technology is also an important real asset; anything that makes the world better, faster, and cheaper has value (which is a key distinction from ‘consumer technology’, which just involves swiping and scrolling and wasting time).

Real assets are important because, historically and logically, they tend to perform extremely well in a fiscal crisis. People start looking for safe havens— and the best safe havens in a crisis are quality, valuable, scarce resources.

The time to be thinking about this is now; even though the fiscal crisis is completely obvious, most people are ignoring it… and hence ignoring real assets.

For now this is a huge benefit to investors, because many real assets (including many commodities, commodity-based businesses, productive technology) have never been cheaper.

So there are a number of bargains out there that could protect your wealth down the road in the event that America’s fiscal crisis continues to unfold.

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In a world full of unimaginable absurdity, we spend a lot of time thinking about the future… and to where all of this insanity leads.

“Future Headline Friday” is our satirical take of where the world is going if it remains on its current path. While our satire may be humorous and exaggerated, rest assured that everything we write is based on actual events, news stories, personalities, and pending legislation.

August 11, 2024: WeWork announces it can barely afford to hand out free tequila anymore

It was just one year ago that WeWork, a company which provides co-working space, said “losses and negative cash flows from operating activities raise substantial doubt” that it could stay in business.

At the time it reported about $3 billion in long term debt and $13 billion in long-term lease obligations, yet a market cap of just $390 million— down more than 99% from its $47 billion valuation back in 2019.

The co-working space became famous for its cushy and stylish office spaces, which included such perks as handing out free tequila to members.

It later became infamous when it’s founder and then CEO Adam Neumann benefited personally at the expense of shareholders.

This included borrowing money from the company to buy office space, only to lease that office space back to the company at a profit.

He also sold off hundreds of millions of dollars worth of his own shares while simultaneously convincing investors to put money in the company. Yet despite selling his shares, he awarded himself special rights to be able to out-vote everyone else, cementing his control over the company.

Neumann even sold the rights to the word ‘We’ to the company for $6 million, which was the final straw for investors.

After Neumann was ousted as CEO (but not before collecting a $185 million consulting fee), the company attempted to turn things around.

However one thing that has remained non-negotiable is providing free tequila to members.

Last week shareholders desperately begged management to stop the tequila from flowing.

But the current CEO said this will be the hill the company dies on.

“I can assure you that the very last dollar of investor funds will be spent on handing out free tequila to our members.”

He explained that while this may sound ridiculous from the outside, “the company’s core mission has always been to ‘elevate the world’s consciousness,’”  as it explained in a 2019 SEC filing before a failed IPO.

He further explained that apart from the company’s online reservation system, it’s tequila dispensing machines were the core aspect of the company’s “extensive technology” it also gushed about in previous SEC filings.

“Without the free tequila, we’re just an office space company that has wasted tens of billions of dollars with nothing to show for it except a wildly wealthy founder.”

August 11, 2025: Oakland Police advise residents to “appear as poor as possible”

Residents of Oakland, California are being urged by police to pursue degrees in psychology in order to ward off violent attackers.

“The real victims crime are the people who, because of their dire circumstances, have been pushed to violate the law,” said a spokesperson for the Mobile Assistance Community Responders of Oakland, or MACRO. “And we believe we can better serve this community if more of those being attacked know how to provide professional psychiatric help at the scene of the crime, in real time.”

In 2023, police urged residents of crime stricken areas to use air horns to try to scare off attackers and alert their neighbors to a crime occurring. But last year, Oakland residents voted to outlaw air horns after it caused psychological distress to the attackers.

Instead, those being attacked should start by sympathizing with the attacker in order to gain rapport. For beginners, it’s best to start by telling an attacker that you appreciate how frustrated they must be, or even to offer them some food or hot tea.

Anyone with more advanced training and experience in psychology, however, could start by asking the attacker about his/her childhood, and then encourage attackers to explore traumatic events from their lives that may have triggered their criminal behavior.

“Invite them inside for a conversation. Ask them if there is anything that has been weighing on their mind,” MACRO urges.

And officials say that if you are unable to pursue a psychology degree, the best course of action to fend off criminal attackers is to appear as poor as possible, so that there is less incentive to target you.

Don’t wear flashy items like button down shirts or wedding rings. And avoid repainting your home, or repairing damaged porches and fences.

Even letting the weeds grow too long in your yard can be a helpful deterrent to crime.

The fines assessed by the City of Oakland for violating municipal codes about grass length could be well worth it if it deters a break-in.

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Looking to make Argentina your second home? The country’s Rentista Visa program offers retirees and folks with passive income (e.g. from property rentals) the ability to obtain residency there.

Plus, you can apply for Argentinian citizenship after just two years of residency.

Let’s get into the details below…

A closer look at Argentina’s Rentista Visa program in 2023…

Argentina has had its ups and downs.

The near-constant economic turmoil and corruption have taken their toll on the economy, but that’s not the whole story. It’s safe to say that there’s a lot to love about this South American country.

The Argentine peso has been constantly losing value against major currencies, making the country an extremely cheap option for anyone earning in dollars or euros.

You get a lot of bang for your buck here, plus a reasonably high quality of life.

Some extremely well-traveled people we know call Argentina the cheapest civilized country in the world. And this statement is hard to disagree with.

Buenos Aires, the country’s capital, is often compared to Paris for its architecture and vibrant lifestyle. Sure, it’s a run down version of Paris, and there’s even more crime than in France to watch out for, but that’s true of many big cities.

And Argentina is not only about Buenos Aires. It has much more to offer: From the stunning Patagonian Pampas and volcanoes of the south, to its beach towns in the east, to the lush wine region in the north-west – Argentina has it all.

And the country’s so-called Rentista Residency – meaning “rentier” in English – is an excellent way of obtaining a residency there for retired folks and those with rental income…

The Argentinian Rentista Visa at at glance

 

KEY PROGRAM CHARACTERISTICS
Financial Requirements	Around $2,000 monthly (calculated as five times the official minimum wage.) Every applicant must have this income to qualify. Alternatively, you can potentially qualify by remitting around $24,000 (12 x $2,000) to Argentina.
Qualifying Income Types	Pension from public or private sources; passive income such as rental income from outside of Argentina, dividend payments, annuity, interest payments from CDs, etc. Employment income does not qualify.
Other Conditions	N/A
Residency Type and Renewal Conditions	Temporary residency, renewable every year. To keep it active, you must spend at least six months per year in Argentina.

Understanding the recent changes to the Rentista Visa program
Until recently, the unwritten income requirement to qualify for the residency was about $2,000. (The official requirement, set in inflated Argentinian pesos, lost its significance a long time ago.)

But in July of 2023, the official income requirement changed. Now, you must demonstrate that you enjoy at least five times the minimum Argentinean salary to qualify.

Considering the runaway inflation in the country, this minimum salary changes monthly. As of this writing in August 2023, it equals 112,500 pesos (around $400 according to the official exchange rate).

And in September, it will increase to 118,000 pesos per month.
This new income requirement seems to be in line with the old unwritten income rule – five times the legal minimum wage is also around $2,000.

What has also changed, however, is how larger families are treated:

Each applicant must now show that minimum income, making income requirements for larger families downright onerous.

Another new program novelty is somewhat more positive:

Our contact on the ground mentioned applying on the basis of a savings lump sum may now be possible – provided that it is remitted to Argentina.

The problem here is that at least currently, no Argentinean bank will accept such a “large” transfer for a new client – and at least $24,000 per person is required.

Moreover, in our opinion, the dysfunctional Argentinian banking system is one of the worst places in the world to hold your money…

Will I be able to obtain Argentinian Permanent Residency?

After holding this residency for three years, you become eligible for permanent residency.

However, obtaining it makes little sense, since you can apply for Argentinean naturalization (i.e. citizenship) sooner – after just two years of residency.

That’s one of the fastest timelines in the world. Just keep in mind that the naturalization process is not immediate. As of 2023, it will take around two more years.

And Argentine citizenship is better than permanent residency.

Plus, new residents can take advantage of a tax law provision that lets you avoid paying taxes on your worldwide income for up to five years.

But what if I don’t have passive income?

Again, you could try to apply for the Rentista Visa by remitting the requisite $24,000 to Argentina – but this will be challenging, and likely neither viable nor advisable if you’re applying as a large family.

Whilst Argentina does, on paper, have an investor visa, the country’s bureaucratic ineptitude has made this program practically impossible to navigate ever since it was introduced.

The country does have a digital nomad visa program, too. And we will be examining this here in the near future, so stay tuned…

The bottomline…

Argentina is not short on problems… But if you’re earning hard currency abroad, you could enjoy an exceptional quality of life and unrivaled value for money.

So if you’re looking for an affordable, exciting place to call home – with the very real prospect of getting second citizenship and a decent passport after a few years – Argentina might just be your perfect match.

Yours in freedom,

Team Sovereign Man

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Another day, another downgrade for America. Today it’s Moody’s Investor Service, one of the three major credit rating agencies alongside Fitch and S&P.

Last week Fitch downgraded the sovereign debt rating for the United States of America. And late yesterday, Moody’s downgraded the ratings of several US banks.

The implication? The seismic activity that we saw in the banking sector back in March isn’t over. This is no surprise for our readers– we’ve talked about the ongoing risks in US banks several times since then.

The bottom line is very simple: higher interest rates are bad for banks… and it’s easy to understand why:

Banks typically own vast portfolios of bonds, including US government bonds, commercial real estate bonds, housing bonds, municipal bonds, and more. And one of the key influences over these bonds’ values is interest rates.

If you know nothing else about bonds, just keep this one simple rule in mind: when interest rates rise, bond values fall.

Remember that banks spent most of the pandemic buying up huge amounts of bonds at record low interest rates… as little as 0%. But now interest rates are MUCH higher than they were a few years ago.

This means that all the bonds that banks purchased back in 2020 and 2021 have lost an enormous amount of value.

In finance this is known as an ‘unrealized loss’. It’s similar if you buy a stock, but then the stock price falls. You haven’t actually lost money yet because you haven’t sold the stock. But on paper, you’re down.

It’s the same with the banks; their bond portfolios have lost a ton of value because interest rates have risen so quickly. So on paper, they’re down. A lot.

According to FDIC data, banks across the US had $620 billion in unrealized losses at the end of 2022, equivalent to roughly 30% of total capital. That’s a big number.

But banks actually account for their unrealized losses quite dishonestly. Yes I know it’s shocking to think that banks would be dishonest about anything, but it’s true. I’ll explain–

Banks have the option to categorize their bond portfolios in one of two ways. The first category is called Hold to Maturity, or HTM. By classifying a bond as HTM, the bank is essentially saying, “Hey, we will never sell this bond and intend to keep it until the bond matures.”

So if the bank buys a 30-year US government bond and classifies it as HTM, it means they intend to hold that bond on their books for three decades.

The other category is called Available For Sale, or AFS. Bonds that are classified as AFS are, as the name suggests, available to be sold on the market. So if the bank needs to raise some quick cash, it can liquidate some of its AFS bonds.

There is a key difference in how banks account for these different categories, though. Because AFS bonds might be sold, banks are required to revalue them every quarter and record a gain or loss.

So if the value of their AFS bonds decreases, for example, because interest rates keep rising, then the bank will record a big loss.

HTM bonds, however, don’t have to be revalued. No matter how far the HTM bonds may fall in value due to rising rates, banks never have to record a loss.

Naturally, bank executives don’t want to record losses. Losses mean falling stock prices, which mean lower bonuses and compensation.

So, instead of being intellectually honest about their bond losses, banks hide their AFS bond losses by magically reclassifying them as HTM.

This is a huge scam; it means that banks are deliberately understating their losses and overstating their financial strength.

Remember, the losses that the banks are actually reporting amounts to $620 billion. But how big would the unrealized losses be if they were actually honest?

Well, according to one recent working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research, the real estimate on potential losses is $2.2 trillion.

This is a number so big that it virtually wipes out all the equity in the US banking system. Incredible.

Not to be outdone, the Federal Reserve is sitting on close to $1 trillion in unrealized losses– also thanks to the rapid increase in interest rates that they themselves are perpetuating. It boggles the mind.

So it’s quite possible that the largest, most systemically important central bank in the world is hopelessly insolvent, and the US banking system has wiped out all of its equity.

The larger point is that the problems in the banking sector that we saw unfold several months ago haven’t gone away. In fact, given that interest rates are even higher than they were when Silicon Valley Bank went bust, the problems in the banking system have gotten worse.

Almost everyone (except for us) has been happy to ignore the growing risk in the banking sector. The Fed. The FDIC. The Treasury Department. Financial media.

Moody’s has finally pointed out that the emperor obviously has no clothes, citing the banks’ “sizable unrealized losses”.

Now, don’t get me wrong… I’m not suggesting that another major banking collapse is imminent. A house of cards can stand for a really, really long time as long as nothing disturbs it.

But don’t kid yourself and assume that banks are risk-free. The risks are obvious, regardless of whether anyone wants to admit the truth.

Fortunately there are alternatives; many banks (especially smaller banks and some foreign banks) have much safer balance sheets and take less risk. But there are also options to hold savings outside of the banking sector altogether, including cash, gold, and crypto.

It’s also worth noting that many major banks in the US were recently reprimanded by the FDIC for deliberately manipulating data in an attempt to downplay the risks of their uninsured deposits.

These institutions are clearly pathological liars with no respect for their customers’ dignity. Coupled with the ongoing risks to their bond portfolios, it certainly makes sense to consider alternatives.

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Last week, the credit rating agency Fitch downgraded the US national debt.

Predictably, senior officials like Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen claimed Fitch’s “flawed assessment was based on outdated data” and that the downgrade was “entirely unwarranted.”

What a joke.

Just consider the US government’s surging interest payments on the national debt—

This Fiscal Year (which ends on September 30) the Treasury Department expects to spend a whopping $897 billion just to pay interest on the national debt. That’s up SEVENTY PERCENT over the past three years. It’s an unbelievable turn for the worst.

The national debt is already more than $32.6 trillion, and it’s climbing rapidly thanks to unrestrained spending.

Fitch called attention to this reality in citing the government’s “high and widening deficits”. And this doesn’t even factor in looming emergencies like the insolvency of Social Security.

The Social Security Administration itself admits that its key trust funds will run out of money within a decade… forcing the government to either default on the promises they’ve made to millions of retirees, or to engage in the largest bailout in the history of the US government.

Also factoring into Fitch’s US economic outlook is the absolute horrific level of governance in America.

Political institutions have lost the ability to cooperate, compromise, and make sensible decisions for the good of the nation. Obvious risks are ignored until they balloon into major crises… yet politicians only implement a band-aid fix that kicks the can down the road a few more years.

Bizarrely, socialism is becoming more and more popular even though the federal government has an objectively horrible track record when it comes to spending money wisely. And yet there is a growing contingent among voters that the answer is more government.

Another key issue denting US credibility is the rapidly deteriorating rule of law.

It’s ironic that a former President has been charged with “conspiracy to defraud the United States” by lying in order to disrupt the lawful function of government.

I’m curious why that standard has not been applied uniformly to other government officials.

It wasn’t that long ago when Senator Chuck Schumer disagreed with a Supreme Court decision and announced (rather menacingly) to Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, “You have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price. You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.”

Schumer’s words helped spark death threats, protests, and the attempted murder of a Supreme Court Justice. Was this not an attempt to disrupt the lawful function of government?

The same can be said of people like Fauci who told multiple lies and censored scientific debate, thus disrupting the lawful function of government during the pandemic.

Then there was Congressman Adam Schiff, who waged Holy War based on the Russian Collusion false narrative. The investigation was full of lies and was meant to sway a Presidential election. Was this not an attempt to disrupt the lawful function of government?

This list is truly endless. But it shows more and more than the weaponization of government, from the IRS to federal police agencies, makes people less free.

Ironically, however, it’s a great time to be a criminal in America. Or simply ‘illegal’ in any sense of the word.

The immigration system is a mess, and rather than simply fixing it to make legal immigration more efficient, politicians gaslight anyone who thinks it’s a problem to have millions of people flowing across the border unchecked.

Woke prosecutors are downgrading or refusing to prosecute serious crimes; many have implemented ‘catch and release’ bail policies which immediately put criminals back onto the streets.

Yet they do prosecute good Samaritans who step up to protect themselves and others around them.

The level of lawlessness and overall disregard for basic human decency is just astonishing; we’ve all seen the videos of brazen shoplifters in California, or chaotic mobs on the streets in Philadelphia or Chicago.

Just don’t call it a ‘mob’. After several hundred teenage looters stormed downtown Chicago last weekend, the Mayor berated a reporter and said it’s “not inappropriate” to call it a mob, and insisted they should be called “large gatherings”… just like the “mostly peaceful” protests of 2020.

This level of youth crime is not surprising given that 69% of American 8th graders aren’t proficient readers. 73% don’t know math and science. But who can blame them given how quickly math and science are being rewritten through the lens of diversity and inclusion.

While individual teachers can be amazing human beings, the same cannot be said about the bosses who control major teachers unions. The last thing these bureaucrats seem to care about is educating young people. They’re far more interested in indoctrination.

And this leads to an extremely polarized society which is hilariously ignorant about their fanatical beliefs.

I recently saw a video of a white kid being threatened because he had ‘culturally appropriated’ his dreadlock hairstyle; little did his accusers know that dreadlocks were worn by Bronze Age civilizations in Europe, and not invented by Bob Marley.

But why let truth get in the way of petty anger.

People are enraged, intolerant, and can’t seem to cope. Shootings, road rage incidents, and general violence are on the rise, and there’s very little sense of national unity.

Even a national emergency like the pandemic didn’t unify the nation; in fact, the irrational government response, nonstop propaganda, and politicization of science made people even more divided.

I’ve been writing about these issues since I started Sovereign Man more than 14 years ago. Back then it was ‘fringe’ to talk about Social Security’s insolvency, bank failures, huge debt problems in America, rising social chaos, decline in freedom, etc.

Today it’s all mainstream.

In downgrading US debt, Fitch’s arguments look like they have been taken directly out of these pages, and they’re echoed in publications like the Wall Street Journal.

All the above said, however, I think it’s also important to see all sides and be intellectually objective. Not everything is negative.

For example, the US still has a highly diversified economy with extensive capital markets, tremendous natural resources, and a deep pool of talent.

It’s curious to me that so many “experts” tend to choose one side or the other. There’s a lot of doom and gloom on the Internet, as well as mainstream voices who obsessively chant “USA #1”.

Warren Buffett is one of America’s most famous cheerleaders. Along with Joe Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Buffett seems dismissive of any problems in the US economy.

So which view is correct? Well, both of them.

For centuries, scientists (led by Isaac Newton) believed that light was a special particle of energy. But eventually Newton’s ‘particle’ theory of light was disproven, and scientists concluded that light was actually a wave.

It was’t until the early 20th century that physicists began to accept that light behaves both as a particle and a wave. Albert Einstein summed this up when he said,

“We are faced with a new kind of difficulty. We have two contradictory pictures of reality; separately neither of them fully explains the phenomena of light, but together they do.”

Similarly, there are two contradictory pictures of America. One is that the nation is still strong. The other is that it is in terminal decline. Just like light, they’re both right.

The ‘America strong’ reality is still valid. In fact I would argue that most of the world would still prefer US leadership over Chinese hegemony.

And despite such debilitating economic problems, I’ve written several times before that these challenges are still solvable.

There’s at least one historical instance we’ve talked about in the past of a superpower (Britain in the 1800s) that was able to grow its way out of terrible economic, social, and national defense challenges.

But I wouldn’t want to bet the house on this happening again. And that’s why it makes so much sense to have a Plan B.

Have another place to go. Take steps to reduce your taxes. Safeguard your retirement. Diversify your savings and investments outside of your home currency. Protect your assets. Etc.

That way, whatever happens, you will be able to respond from a position of strength.

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Looking to retire in the EU, but not 100% sure where you’d like to settle yet?
The Latvian Retirement Visa could be just the thing for you. Boasting low income requirements and requiring relatively few supporting documents, it is arguable THE easiest EU retirement visa to get…

Let’s get into the details below…

Applying for second residency or citizenship in Europe is generally quite an onerous, time-consuming process.

And based on 14+ years of research and boot-on-the-ground experience, we’d say that this is a design feature, rather than a flaw.

Which, if you think about it, makes a fair amount of sense:

Can you imagine how many millions of people would be moving to Portugal, Italy, Spain and France if getting a residency there were a simple, two-week exercise?

Hence, residency application processes typically serve to deter all but the most committed.

(Digital nomad visas tend to be the exception to this rule, but in most cases, they don’t lead to any kind of permanent or longer-term residency status.)

And whilst Portugal’s Retirement Visa – the so-called D7 Visa – also boasts pretty simple, easy requirements, it has been so popular that processing times have gotten quite lengthy.

But the good news is that you don’t have to apply for the Portuguese Retirement Visa in order to spend substantial amounts of time in Portugal.

What few folks consider is that you can enjoy freedom of movement across all 27 Schengen countries by gaining residency in just one. (Although there are some caveats to this – read more below…)

Residents of, say, Hungary or Czechia can easily spend their summers in France, Greece or Italy.

So if you’re a retiree… and you’re somewhat flexible in terms of where your primary EU base is situated… Then opting for the fastest, simplest and most affordable residency in the EU could make a lot of sense.

Enter the Latvian Retirement Visa…

Latvia is one of the three Baltic states that emerged after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Ensconced between Lithuania and Estonia and bordered by the Baltic Sea, its economy has thrived since the country moved away from its Soviet roots. (It also shares a border with Russia.)

Latvia offers a low cost of living, affordable healthcare, and a highly accessible retirement visa (details below) — all essential ingredients for a happy retirement.

Source: Sovereign Man Cost of Living Index

However, it’s important to note that living in Latvia has a significant drawback: a cold climate characterized by cold and gloomy winters.

If your ideal retirement involves nice weather with lots of sunshine, then Latvia may not be your best option. But if you’re not planning on spending all of your time there, then this shouldn’t be a problem.

As a temporary resident of Latvia – which you will be for at least five years – you can generally live in Latvia only.

However, you can travel to other Schengen countries for a maximum of 90 days out of 180 days. This means that after spending 90 days in Spain or Greece, you must return to Latvia – or leave the Schengen Area – for a minimum of 90 days before visiting another Schengen country.

(Of course, the borderless nature of the Schengen Area makes tracking your whereabouts practically impossible, but these are the official requirements.)

But there is no reason why you can’t hold a residency in Latvia, whilst also owning a property in, say, Portugal or Spain – even if that only comes later.

(If you do, however, want to move your primary European foothold from Latvia to another EU country, you will be required to obtain residency there. But with the Latvian Retirement

Visa, it’s easy to get your foot in the door and “try before you buy”, as it were.)

What’s required to obtain the Latvian Retirement Visa?

The country offers an attractive retirement visa with minimal documentary requirements. You don’t even need a police clearance or FBI report, which is unusual in terms of EU residency requirements.

The primary financial condition is receiving a monthly pension of at least €900. (The amount is adjusted annually.) And if you bring dependents, you must add €500 for a spouse and €150 for each minor.

There are two essential conditions, however:

• You need to be at least 65 years old – Latvia’s official retirement age, AND;
• You need to be a citizen of a country that enjoys visa-free access to the Schengen Area (all the Western countries are on the list.)

What you will get is a five-year temporary residence permit, and you must stay in Latvia for at least six months per year to keep it active.

After five years of residency, you can renew your temporary residency for another five years with no additional requirements.

Will I be able to obtain Latvian Permanent Residency?

Yes, this is possible: After five years of temporary residency, you also have the option to apply for the EU’s long-term residency (i.e. Latvia’s permanent residency).

This status will allow you to relocate to another EU country with minimal paperwork required. And to keep it active, you only need to visit any EU country once a year, and Latvia once every five years.

This is the closest you can get to EU citizenship benefits without being a citizen.

But to be eligible for permanent residency, people younger than 65 must pass an A2 proficiency test in the Latvian language – that’s the second level out of six. It’s also important to note that Latvian is distinct from other European languages – and it’s challenging to learn.

Also, to qualify for permanent residency, you must make Latvia your home during your five years of temporary residency. This means that you can’t leave the country for:

• Six straight months, AND;
• A total of ten months during the five years of residency before applying.

Finally, after five more years of permanent residency – so after 10 years of residency, in total – you become eligible for Latvian citizenship and an A-graded passport.

In general, Latvia requires the renunciation of your previous citizenship(s) at this stage. However, this requirement is waived if you are a citizen of the EU, European Economic Area (EEA), New Zealand, Brazil, Australia or a NATO country.

The bottomline…

Latvia offers retirees an exciting retirement residency program with straightforward requirements. The country is also affordable, safe, culturally sophisticated, and well developed.

However, be aware of the cold weather and the language requirements if you plan to become a permanent resident or citizen there.

Yours in freedom,

Team Sovereign Man

 

PS: If you’d like to discover more hidden residency, citizenship and semi-citizenship programs like this across Europe and Latin American, then be sure to join Sovereign Confidential today. 

Packed with over 12 years of boots-on-the-ground research and insights, along with step-by-step guidance on how to apply, Sovereign Confidential is the leading internationalization service for freedom-seekers with a global mindset. 

To find out more about this acclaimed service and the battle-tested Plan B strategies we cover in its pages, click here.

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In a world full of unimaginable absurdity, we spend a lot of time thinking about the future… and to where all of this insanity leads.

“Future Headline Friday” is our satirical take of where the world is going if it remains on its current path. While our satire may be humorous and exaggerated, rest assured that everything we write is based on actual events, news stories, personalities, and pending legislation.

August 4, 2024: Biden, McConnell, and Feinstein given supreme nuclear authority

Over the past several months as Russian President Vladimir Putin has continued to ramp up his threats of nuclear strike against western adversaries, US lawmakers passed emergency legislation to counter the Russian threat.

The bill, passed with near unanimity by both the House and Senate, creates a brand new committee of three senior politicians who would have supreme authority to bypass Congress and declare war on Russia, as well as send in troops or initiate nuclear missile strikes.

The committee will also be given full nuclear launch codes, further bypassing the existing nuclear launch protocols that involve the National Military Command Center.

Henceforth America’s full nuclear arsenal will be controlled directly by three of the most senior members of the US government; Senator Mitch McConnell, Senator Dianne Feinstein, and President Biden himself were chosen to serve on the committee, known as the “Strategic Executives for Nuclear Intercontinental Launch Enhancement”, or “SENILE” for short.

With a combined 120+ years of service in the federal government, it is hard to imagine a more experienced group of lawmakers being entrusted with the SENILE responsibility.

In the event of any national threat, the three will be spirited away to one of several secure bunkers located in and around Washington DC.

Once there, only these three individuals will be allowed inside the launch room. All aides must remain outside to ensure Russian disinformation does not affect the SENILE decisions being made within the launch room.

It will be solely within the hands of President Biden, Senator McConnell, and Senator Feinstein to determine among themselves whether to launch nuclear missiles.

Each SENILE member issued a statement about the enormous responsibility which Congress has bestowed on them.

President Biden spoke from the Rose Garden this morning and, “It’s a lot like what my dad would tell me back in 1885, when we’d all go swimming with no lifeguard and I was the only kid in the neighborhood whose last name didn’t end in with an ‘O’, so, so, and he’d say ‘Joey, careful which pasta you choose’ and that’s why it’s important in America to… to… well anyway.”

Senator Feinstein at first claimed she was not chosen for the new triumvirate. However after an aide whispered something in her ear, she seemed to remember. “Of course, that triumvirate. I’ve been a member of it for 14 years. We’ve always made sound launch decisions before and…”

At this point the Senator trailed off, and turned to stare blankly at her aide, who was heard whispering, “Just say you are honored and will execute the duties with the heavy zeal you’ve brought to the Senate.”

Feinstein continued, “I’m honored to execute the Navy Seals who bought the Senate.”

Senator McConnell’s statement consisted of him simply staring into the camera.

However Senate aides later said this was meant to be a challenge to anyone who would threaten the United States.

“The Senator was imparting that he would stare down an attack on the United States with poise and stoicism.”

August 5, 2029: US Credit Rating Downgraded to Junk Status

In a widely expected move, both Fitch and Moody’s credit rating agencies downgraded US government Treasurys to junk status.

It was six years ago this week that Fitch first downgraded the US from AAA, its most pristine rating, to AA+, one notch below.

The government’s response to that downgrade back in 2023 was to downplay and trivialize Fitch’s move. Then Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen claimed in the summer of 2023 that Fitch’s “flawed assessment was based on outdated data” and that the downgrade was “entirely unwarranted.”

However, at the time, Fitch’s concerns were clearly legitimate.

The company cited the constant debt ceiling and budget showdowns, increasing inability for political parties to compromise for the good of the nation, increased polarization in US society, enormous public entitlement funding deficiencies, the gargantuan national debt (which at the time was only 120% of GDP), and multi-trillion dollar annual deficits.

Yet for the last six years, the US fiscal situation has deteriorated further.

Between the $9 trillion cost of the Covid-27 pandemic, and the ongoing $2 trillion annual cost of funding the war in Ukraine, the national debt has recently topped 200% of GDP.

And the Treasury Department expects to spend more than 60% of tax revenue just to pay interest on the debt this fiscal year.

The White House, however, continues to downplay the Fitch’s credit rating decision.

President AOC claimed, “Fitch and Moody’s are both obviously rooted in white supremacy. We will not be intimidated by their toxic masculinity, nor will we stray from our fight for social and economic justice.”

Yields on the US 10-year Treasury note surged past 14% on the news, slightly ahead of last year’s 11% inflation rate.

Regardless of the economic implications, the White House said that it will forge ahead will plans to roll out Universal Basic Income, higher wealth taxes on the middle class, criminal penalties against oil and gas companies.

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In late 2019, right before Covid-1984 and Tony “the Science” Fauci became household names, Sovereign Man hosted an event for our Total Access members on the idyllic island of St. Lucia.

As is customary for these intimate get-togethers, we invited a leading local law firm, real estate developers, as well as some local banking reps to deliver insightful presentations to our members.

But our keynote speaker was none other than the sitting St Lucian prime minister, Allen Chastanet.

Hailing from a business background, Chastanet is an impressive figure with exceptional insights into subjects like national identity and Citizenship By Investment (or CBI, for short).

Having a second passport is like having a life insurance policy against sovereign risk. Against government overreach in your home country. Against the Black Swan events no one sees coming.

And having a second passport means that you will always have another home country to go to, should you ever be faced with another lockdown… Or the threat of nuclear war… or some climate related disaster in your home country.

(This thinking is NOT alarmist; the past few years have proven that these risks aren’t hypothetical.)

It also means being able to pass the benefit of greater travel freedom and the ability to live, work and study in at least one other country to your children.

And for folks who aren’t part of what we call the “Lucky Bloodline Club” – i.e. those who can obtain second passports based on their ancestry – Citizenship By Investment programs offer a fast way to obtain alternative citizenship – and a second passport – by making an investment or donation.

(These are typically priced from around $100,000+ excluding fees.)

Now, Bolshevik news outlets like 60 Minutes love portraying CBI programs as somehow illegal, or immoral – but this couldn’t be farther from the truth.

CBI programs are based on official legislation in democratic sovereign nations. And for small Caribbean islands with limited resources and little tax revenue, these programs are a true boon.

At our 2019 event, Chastanet explained to our Total Access members that foreign powers are undermining St. Lucia’s sovereignty, as well as that of the other Caribbean CBI countries.
Ironically, governments in the US and Europe are perfectly fine with small island nations going deeper and deeper into debt each year.

CBI programs, in contrast, enable these countries to sell sovereign equity – which is really what citizenship is – in order to avoid falling into a sovereign debt trap.

But leftist media outlets tend to cherry-pick a handful of examples of instances where CBI passport holders were involved in wrongdoing to paint all CBI programs everywhere with a tar brush.

But this is bad logic.

It’s like saying that because some cartel bosses use iPhones, Apple facilitates criminal enterprise.

The reality is that governments like St. Lucia have an incentive to conduct due diligence on CBI applicants; they have a vested interest to ensure their new citizens are of upstanding moral character.

Is their due diligence perfect 100% of the time?

Of course not; but then again, which country can truly claim that theirs is? Even the United States immigration system occasionally lets a few criminals slip through the cracks and become green card holders or citizens.

Nonetheless, a few rotten apples out of tens of thousands of CBI applications was enough for the EU (and more recently the UK) to threaten CBI countries with provoking their visa-free travel privileges.
And in fact, both Vanuatu and Dominica recently lost their visa-free access to the UK. (Vanuatu also lost their EU access during May of 2022.)

Visa-free access to the Schengen Zone is arguably the largest selling point of any Caribbean CBI program, and no one wants to jeopardize this advantage.

So, last week, with a view to avoid a similar fate, St. Kitts acquiesced to demands by the EU and US to implement sweeping changes to their CBI program.

Most notably, St. Kitts and Nevis have DOUBLED their minimum donation and real estate investment amounts – effective immediately.

• The updated donation amounts are now as follows:
• Single applicant: $250,000 (previously $125,000)
• Applicant plus spouse: $300,000 (previously $150,000)
• Family of up to four: $350,000 (previously $170,000)
• Each additional minor dependent: $50,000 (previously $10,000)
• Each additional adult dependent: $75,000 (previously $25,000)

In addition, these numbers do NOT include the now increased due diligence fees.

Other notable modifications to the program include the introduction of mandatory online or in-person interviews for all applicants, and the exclusion of siblings and grandparents as qualifying dependents.

St. Kitts is home to the Caribbean’s flagship CBI program, and they made the first move. But it is reasonable to expect that other CBI countries will follow, raising their prices and redesigning their application procedures in the near future.

What can we learn from this?

As a result of the recent developments in St. Kitts, obtaining second citizenship by donation or investment is likely to become more expensive across the board.

That’s also why we’ve been pounding the table for over a decade, saying that:

When it comes to second residency and citizenship programs, if there’s a great deal on the table, then take swift action.

These deals can and do go away practically overnight – and the remaining options become both more expensive and increasingly onerous over time.

Fortunately, however, none of the other four Caribbean CBI programs have increased their prices – yet. Which means that you have a narrow-window opportunity to secure a second citizenship for half the price you can expect to pay in the future.

The passports of countries like Saint Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda as well as Grenada are very good travel documents, and these programs all enjoy solid international reputations.

Also, on that note…

There is still time to obtain a Caribbean passport at the current low prices – AND to benefit from massive supplier discounts – by joining Total Access…

As you may know, members of Total Access – our highest-end membership program – can obtain Caribbean passports for less than anyone else in the world.

For example: If you apply for a donation-based St. Lucian passport as a family of four via Total Access, you’ll save a whopping $20,000…

We asked our CBI providers in the other four Caribbean countries whether our TA members could still apply there before any potential changes take effect in their programs.

And for the moment, at least, it appears to be possible still.

Moreover, if you’re considering getting a CBI passport before the other programs increase their prices, you’re in luck, as Total Access enrolment is open right now (August 3, 2023).

(And these passport deals are just one of the many benefits we offer our TA members…)

Total Access is a tight-knit, exclusive community of successful, freedom-minded entrepreneurs, thinkers and doers. TA is also where we share the best private opportunities we come across, as well as other deals and opportunities that are too sensitive to put into print anywhere else.

If this sounds like a place where you could belong, then be sure to check out the program today.

But know this: The current low CBI passport pricing is not going to last long.

Moreover, we expect the handful of TA slots to sell out within the next few hours, so if you’ve got your heart set on one, move fast.

The bottom line

We will be updating our website and readers once we have more definitive details on how all of these changes are going to affect the relevant programs…

But as we have emphasized repeatedly: If you find a residency or citizenship program that appeals to you, act promptly. The world of immigration is highly unpredictable, and attractive options can and do vanish unexpectedly.

Yours in Freedom,
Team Sovereign Man

PS: Total Access enrolment is now open, but we only have a handful of slots left. So if you want to grab one of the remaining few, click here now.

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Elizabeth Warren, the Senator from Massachusetts, is full of great ideas.

Her image of the perfect world is one of nonstop government regulation. All business must be controlled… by her, of course.

Only an ex-professor knows best how the 330+ million person American economy should function!

Warren’s first brainchild was the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). President Obama signed the agency into law in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, with the mission to “protect” consumers from unfair, deceptive, and abusive practices by big business.

Yet this is an agency that itself is so unfair, deceptive, and abusive that it was sanctioned by a federal judge for its unethical actions earlier this year..

In short, the judge said that the CFPB was indiscriminately bullying a private company. When ordered them to cease and desist, the CFPB then showed “blatant” and “willful” disregard for the judge’s instructions.

Like the CDC, and many other federal agencies for that matter, the CFPB has become highly ideological. Fanatical really. And they’re far more likely to assault businesses that don’t bend the knee to the political left.

It sounds like there needs to be a government agency to protect businesses from the CFPB.

The larger issue, of course, is that the CFPB (which has now been around for more than a decade) is yet another agency that creates rules and regulations… each of which has a cost.

Regulations aren’t free. Businesses and individuals have to take time and often spend money to comply… time and money that could be better spent on productive activities.

The CFPB also costs taxpayers money. The CFPB, in fact, has been under fire for spending lavishly (nearly 3x over budget) to renovate its headquarters building, which comes with a fancy waterfall..

What exactly is the benefit for this agency? How are taxpayers better off?

For most people, the answer is “not at all”. I doubt you jump out of bed in the morning thanking your lucky stars that the CFPB is there to protect you.

Yet despite its dubious benefit, the CFPB’s cost to taxpayers… and to the US economy… is substantial.

But naturally they never learn from their mistakes. And so Elizabeth Warren is back with another great idea that taxpayers can foot the bill for.

Her new bill, the Digital Platform Commission Act of 2023, would establish a Federal Digital Platform Commission with the power “to regulate access to, competition among, and consumer protections for digital platforms”.

Perfect. For Elizabeth Warren, it’s not enough to create more regulations. She wants to create more regulatory AGENCIES… including a special commission where bureaucrats and politicians can tell websites how to design their layouts.

Don’t get me wrong, I have no love for the Big Tech and social media companies. I think Mark Zuckerberg has had a major role in f’ing up the world… and I’ve said before that if he chased children around in real life with the same perversion as he watches them online, he’d probably be in jail next to Jared from Subway.

But a new agency to regulate ALL online businesses will be yet another bureaucracy with no benefit to average guy.

It’s not like there aren’t enough regulations now. The Code of Federal Regulations is nearly 200,000 pages at this point.

Yet somehow, anytime something goes wrong, the solution is not just more regulations, and but more regulatory agencies!

That means that people who could be doing something productive in the private sector are now in government agencies making it more difficult and expensive to do business.

Again, this all comes at a cost. Regulations are expensive in that they require taxpayer funds, plus time, money, and energy for businesses to comply. The consequence is that excess regulations make the economy less productive… and America cannot afford to be less productive right now.

We’ve talked about this before: economic productivity is THE solution to America’s problems.

Real GDP growth since 2000 has averaged just 2%.

Back in the 1980s and 1990s it was 3.3%. And it turns out that the 1.3% difference in growth has an enormous impact.

If real US economic growth had remained at 3.3% for the past 20 years, most of the US financial problems would have already melted away.

Tax revenue would have grown so much that budget deficits would be non-existent. America’s debt-to-GDP ratio today would be less than 50%, and falling (instead of > 120% and rising).

At sustained 3.3% growth, in fact, the national debt would hit zero by 20233. Social Security would be completely funded. The US would have no financial challenges whatsoever. And the US dollar’s dominance would be unquestioned.

The US government could even spend to its heart’s content on every fanatical woke idea they could think of… simply because the economy would be so strong and productive.

And it’s not like an additional 1.3% growth isn’t achievable. Again, the US achieved this in the 1980s and 1990s.

You’d think that, in the face of such obvious historical data, politicians would do everything in their power to maximize productivity. They’d embrace capitalism, cut red tape, create incentives for production, support small businesses, make taxes more efficient, etc.

Or at a minimum, they’d simply stay out of the way.

But instead, they do the exact opposite. They consistently create new regulations and roadblocks to productivity… just like Elizabeth Warren’s stupid new idea.

Now, it’s not like this ONE new agency is going to wreck the economy or send the US over edge.

In fact, America’s financial woes are still fixable if they start doing the right things.

But think about the financial health of a nation like our individual, physical health.

No one has a heart attack from one french fry. But a lifetime of french fries causes serious health problems. At a certain point, you just have to put down the McDonalds and start making healthy decisions.

But they can’t manage to do that. Elizbeth Warren seems to think that french fries are healthy, and she’s blind to the consequences of her horrendous ideas.

Which is why we write so much about having a Plan B. The people in charge just don’t understand. Every day they come up with more destructive ideas that make the economy weaker and create more long-term problems.

A great Plan B reduces your exposure to the risks they create. It includes things like diversifying your savings into other currencies and other assets that they don’t control.

And, yes, it even means having another place to go if you ever really need it.

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