Financial Sense Newshour: Experts

Jim welcomes Puru Saxena, Editor and Founder of Money Matters and Puru Saxena Limited in Hong Kong. Puru believes that the Chinese real estate bubble is on the verge of a major bust, which will not bode well for China, or Asia. He believes the thirteen year bear market in stocks is over, and a multiple year bull market in equities has begun, especially in the US. Puru sees the dollar as the most liquid and secure currency in the world and does not foresee a dollar crisis. Due to supply and demand factors, he does not favor commodities, as prices will be under pressure in the near to medium term.

Jim welcomes back Douglas Noland, Senior Portfolio Manager at Federated Investors Inc. Doug sees the global government finance bubble as the next crisis epicenter. He believes the US has exported the finance bubble and today QE by central banks around the world make the dollar more attractive by comparison. Doug also sees the German people taking a harder line against bailouts in Europe, leaving their government in a bind. He believes that US bank depositors are also at risk of confiscation, by inflation.

Jim welcomes William Black PhD, Professor of Economics and Law at University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law. Professor Black sees an increasing trend of crony capitalism in world markets. He sees two primary reasons for the mess; regulatory neglect and competition from overseas exchanges with less stringent regulations. In terms of corruption, Black believes the current credit crisis is 70 times larger than the Savings & Loan Crisis. In the S&L crisis, Black notes that there were 30,000 criminal referrals, and 2,000 white collar criminals went to prison. In the current credit crisis, stemming from 2008, there have been zero criminal referrals and zero prosecutions. He sees the FBI as the only agency with any effectiveness in white collar crime, but they are woefully understaffed. 

Jim welcomes back Dr. Patrick Abbott, Professor Emeritus, Department of Geological Sciences at San Diego State University. Dr. Abbott is an expert on earthquakes and is a veteran of many media appearances in California after significant quakes. He talks with Jim about the probability of “The Big One”; how to prepare yourself and know what to do if a major earthquake should strike. California is known for its tremors, but the potential exists for earthquakes in many other states as well. Dr. Abbott also notes that there are many earthquake faults that scientists have only recently discovered, and there are likely many more yet to be discovered.