Financial Sense Newshour: Experts

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.

Jim is pleased to welcome noted geologist Keith Barron PhD, Director, Founder and Exploration Geologist at U308 Corp. Keith and Jim discuss the recently completed PDAC Convention from Toronto, the world's premier event for the mineral industry. Keith notes that the junior miners have been killed and offer opportunities at rock bottom prices. He notes that the majors have also disappointed, and have too often diluted their shareholders. Keith sees an emphasis going forward on economic projects that make sense, rather than large deposits that have a lesser ore grade. Keith also looked at the issue of “peak gold” and how it is now much more difficult to find large gold deposits anywhere on the globe.

Jim welcomes Scott Rickards, founder and CEO of Waterfund LLC. Waterfund is pioneering a pricing benchmark for fresh water for actuarial purposes. The index will reflect the actual cost of producing and delivering water. The index will also allow for a hedge against the cost of water. Scott believes the index will unlock private capital to invest in water scarcity. Scott sees the users of the index as institutional investors, water retailers (such as water companies, miners and beverage firms) and governments and municipalities.