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April
26
2022

The Benefits of Economic Collapse
Doug Casey

I first began to predict a major economic collapse back in 1999. Although I understood that it was at least fifteen years off and possibly more, I believed that it would be wise to begin to prepare for it then, as the actual date of collapse could not be predicted. (Better to be a few years early than even one day too late.)

Not surprisingly, back then, this prediction appeared to most people to not only be unlikely, but laughable.

Today, we’re a good bit closer to the onset of an economic crisis and it now not only seems possible, but quite likely to an increasing number of those people who are paying attention.

And not surprisingly, as so many people are now realising the inevitability of such a crisis, they’re also realising that they should have been preparing for it. Preparation for a major event such as this requires a fair bit of time and many people are belatedly coming to realise that they may be caught with their pants down when the initial crashes begin.

Whenever the inevitability of such a debacle is first recognized, the first reaction for most people is to dive into denial, saying, “It simply can’t happen. Nobody would let it happen, because nobody benefits.”

But that’s just it. Not only does someone benefit, they’ll benefit on a grand scale.

The controllers of an economy always benefit from a collapse

In 1814, Napoleon’s army went into battle at Waterloo, Belgium. The investment moguls at Capel Court in the City of London were biting their nails with worry, as the outcome of the battle would determine stock prices. If the French won, stock prices would drop dramatically. If Britain won, prices would rise dramatically.

In those days, communication was slow. it would take considerable time for the official envoy to travel from the battlefield in Belgium to London with the news of the outcome of the battle.

England’s foremost banker, Nathan Rothschild, had sent his own messenger to Waterloo with instructions to return by the fastest possible means with the news. Consequently, Mister Rothschild received the news many hours ahead of the return by official messenger.

He then was seen at the stock exchange selling as much as he could as quickly as he could. The word went out: “Rothschild knows.” This elicited a panic and others sold as quickly as they could.

Prices plummeted quickly; then, as the official envoy from Waterloo came up the Thames, Rothschild suddenly bought heavily at a rock-bottom price. Within the hour, the envoy provided the news that Britain had won the battle and prices shot through the roof, making enormous profits for Rothschild, all within one trading day.

He later called it, “The best business I ever did.”

The above tale is one that should be committed to memory, as it informs us that those who know of an economic event will most certainly capitalise on it.

Those who pull the strings make tremendous profits by manipulating an economy over the length of prosperous times, but they make just as much in crisis periods. They simply wait until an economic collapse has been completed and the dust has settled, then they buy up the remaining companies at rock-bottom prices at a time when the average investor has been wiped out. Then, when the economy begins its recovery, they ride the next wave of prosperity.

For this reason, anyone who’s in the economic driver’s seat understands that he’s best-served by creating false prosperity, then triggering its collapse, then cashing in on the collapse.

When this realisation occurs to the average investor, he more often than not declares, “Well, if that’s true, I’m toast either way.”

But this is only true if he takes a passive role in his economic future.

You can benefit from a collapse

The Mandarin word for “crisis” also means “opportunity.”

Those who are able to understand this Chinese concept have a tremendous opportunity in terms of investment. They can recognise that the coming crisis is also an opportunity.

Yes, there will be a collapse in the stock and bond markets. These will unquestionably be deflationary events, causing asset prices to crater.

But this need not spell disaster. The game is not over, but the crisis is unquestionably a game-changer.

It’s important to bear in mind that real wealth never disappears; it merely changes hands.

To prepare for the new game, the objective would be to liquidate all or most stocks, bonds and hard assets such as real estate, in advance of a crash.

Next you would wish to expatriate the proceeds to a jurisdiction that’s less likely to be a casualty of the crisis and, hopefully, would be a net-gainer at such a time.

Like those who actually pull the strings, you’d not only avoid becoming a casualty of the economic collapse, you’d stand to gain from it.

Editor’s Note: The economic trajectory is troubling. Unfortunately, there’s little any individual can practically do to change the course of these trends in motion.

The best you can and should do is to stay informed so that you can protect yourself in the best way possible, and even profit from the situation.

That’s precisely why bestselling author Doug Casey just released Surviving and Thriving During an Economic Collapse an urgent new PDF report. It explains what could come next and what you can do about it so you don’t become a victim. Click here to download it now.

As the impetus behind the International Man project, Doug Casey is an American-born free market economist, best-selling financial author, and international investor and entrepreneur. He is the founder and chairman of Casey Research, a provider of subscription financial analysis about specific market verticals that he has focused his investing career around, including natural resources/metals/mining, energy, commodities, and technology.

Since 1979, he has written, and later co-written, the monthly metals and mining focused investment newsletter, The International Speculator. He also contributes to other newsletters, including The Casey Report, a geopolitically oriented publication.

Doug Casey is a highly respected author, publisher and professional investor who graduated from Georgetown University in 1968.

Doug literally wrote the book on profiting from periods of economic turmoil: his book, Crisis Investing, spent multiple weeks as #1 on the New York Times bestseller list and became the best-selling financial book of 1980 with 438,640 copies sold; surpassing big-caliber names, like Free to Choose by Milton Friedman, The Real War by Richard Nixon, and Cosmos by Carl Sagan.

Then Doug broke the record with his next book, Strategic Investing, by receiving the largest advance ever paid for a financial book at the time. Interestingly enough, Doug’s book, The International Man, was the most sold book in the history of Rhodesia.

He has been a featured guest on hundreds of radio and TV shows, including David Letterman, Merv Griffin, Charlie Rose, Phil Donahue, Regis Philbin, Maury Povich, NBC News and CNN; and has been the topic of numerous features in periodicals such as Time, Forbes, People, and the Washington Post.

Doug, who divides his time between homes in Aspen, Colorado; Auckland, New Zealand; and Salta, Argentina, has written newsletters and alert services for sophisticated investors for over 28 years. Doug has lived in 10 countries and visited over 175.

In addition to having served as a trustee on the Board of Governors of Washington College and Northwoods University, Doug has been a director and advisor to nine different financial corporations.

Doug is widely respected as one of the preeminent authorities on “rational speculation,” especially in the high-potential natural resource sector.

www.internationalman.com