To put together a competing world reserve currency and develop an alternative banking system, the BRICs might consider throwing India out of the equation, Jim Rogers said. India has been said to be the stumbling block in establishing the new world bank. “India and Brazil have big (national) debts. Russia is not a big debtor and has big international reserves,” Rogers noted, pivoting to Russian advantages in the interview. “Russia has a freely convertible currency and none of the others have a freely convertible currency.”
Jim Rogers thinks Russia should spend its time courting suitors in its own neighborhood, however. “If I were Russia I would be more interested in selling to Asia than South America.”
As reported two days ago in ValueWalk, the leaders of Russia, India, Brazil, China and South Africa are in meetings ending July 17 to bring together plans to create a $100 billion bank to compete with the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. The planed bank is a piece in a larger puzzle to provide a global alternative to Western dominance of the financial system. This has been a stated goal of Russia and China, both of whom have engaged in trade deals that eschew the use of the US dollar.
Discussing the recent BRICs conference, Jim Rogers noted the steady drumbeat to displace the US as the world’s reserve currency of choice. “Brazil wants to compete with the IMF, the World Bank and the US dollar,” as do all participants in the BRICs conference, Rogers said when speaking on an RT interview.
“Brazil, China and Russia could easily put something together to compete with the US dollar,” Rogers said, leaving out one component of the BRICs alliance. “The US dollar is a terribly flawed currency. I’m an American. I hate to say that. But the US has serious problems, the world has serious problems. We need something else” and potentially a competing world currency could be developed. If this were to occur, the US and its economy might be put in a straight jacket as the ability to engage in large deficit spending could be curtailed.
What I suspect will happen is that America will continue to cut back a little bit but, eventually, it is going to have an effect on the market and then America will start printing money again. But in the meantime, when America continues to cutback, Europe is coming into the market and printing more. On the other hand, Japan and the UK are not cutting back. So, if the US cuts back for a while before it returns, Europe, it seems, will increase its money print. In that context, it is better to buy US dollars rather than euros at this point. I don’t think any of these banks will stop printing permanently because when things start going wrong, they’re going to panic and print more.
The new government has done a lot of smart things in its previous positions. I am still in a wait–and–watch mode as regards India. The new government still doesn’t control the upper House (of Parliament), so, the Prime Minister can’t do everything he likes and the recent Union Budget really didn’t do very much. India still has a lot of internal problems. Though I am not investing right away, I am keenly watching the developments unfold.
The one thing that would make me probably invest in India is if the currency is made convertible and makes it legal and easy for foreigners to invest there. Right now, it is very difficult to invest in India because the currency is not convertible and because it is illegal for foreigners easily to invest there. This is absurd. If India claims where it wants to be – that it is a great economic power, which it could be some day – issues related to currency convertibility, high inflation, debt, ease of investing have to be addressed. So, if the government does something on these issues, I will be very excited about India. You also need to cut bureaucracy. India has the worst bureaucracy in the world and I haven’t seen anything quite like it. If these things change, India could be a very exciting place for me.
America, Germany and many other developed markets are near all-time highs and most undeveloped markets are not. I would prefer to invest in places like Japan, that is still nearly 65 per cent below its all-time high. I would rather invest in Japan rather than in New York. China, too, is around 65 per cent below its high levels. I would much prefer to judge each situation based on its own merit and invest in China or Japan, given that they are depressed, rather than Germany or America.
This is a full documentary from late 80s with a successful american investor seeking adventure by traveling across China with his motorcycle in order to meet the local people.
Wars always affect all markets. When there is turmoil or fear, people are less likely to take risk. War is not good for anything except commodities. In such a scenario, people prefer to put their money into commodities like lead, copper or wheat because they know those are necessary for war. Likewise for gold. Thus, war is not good for anything except commodities. It is less bad for the people who win the war but in the meantime when there is uncertainty, people are afraid of investing and taking risk.
Well, there is no such thing as safe, if you ask me. In the investment world, there is always a risk of everything even if one holds cash. You need to put your money in the right asset. I certainly would think that anything in Africa, South America or even parts of Asia might be safe or considered less dangerous than parts of West Asia. I don’t expect geopolitical problems in Asia but who knows? The future remains uncertain. Politicians, as history suggest, have done very foolish things and probably will continue to do foolish things. So, some parts of Africa and South America appear less dangerous — but no place is absolutely safe.
Venture Capital, Katie Pilbeam talks about the worrying new estimations on US debt figures with Jim Rogers, a legendary investor author of Street Smarts: Adventures on the Road and in the Markets. As Europe bears the burden of austerity, million-euro salaries continue to be dished out to bankers.
The presidents of Russia and Brazil have met ahead of the BRICS Summit. Vladimir Putin and Dewma WHO-sseff were present as some of the two countries' largest corporations signed agreements to deepen the economic ties between the two.
Corporate investor Jim Rogers tells RT that the BRICS members are capable of challenging the United States' financial dominance.
