Jim Rogers: Choose Farming for Your Family and Finances

The Daily Bell is pleased to present this exclusive interview with Jim Rogers

Daily Bell: Hello, Jim Rogers. Thanks for talking with us today. You have a commodities index now, the Rogers International Commodities Index (RICI). How’s that doing.

Jim Rogers: It’s a good reflection of what’s happening in the commodities world. Commodities are not doing well these days and it’s reflecting that. As far as I know, it’s the best reflection of any commodity index because the others were not any good so I had to start my own. I wouldn’t invest in the others as a reflection of the commodities world or as a reflection of the cost of doing business around the world, the cost of being alive around the world.

Daily Bell: And what is happening with commodities? Suicide Pact: The Radi... Napolitano, Andrew P. Best Price: $0.25 Buy New $2.84 (as of 04:15 UTC - Details)

Jim Rogers: Oil, which is the largest and most important commodity for everybody, is down. The Saudis are dumping oil because America told them to. America’s having negotiations with Iran and a situation with Russia so they’re trying to put pressure on both of them. The Saudis are very happy to go along with it and cooperate because the Saudis are trying to do something about the frackers in the United States. If they can put some of them out of business or even cause problems in that industry it will certainly slow the fracking in the US. It is a fairly high-cost way to get oil and gas, and that will slow the huge new supplies of oil coming on-stream. So the Saudis have an economic reason to do it and a political reason given the US is sort of their masters who tell them what to do and how to live life. From the Saudis’ point of view it’s understandable that they would do it and they are doing it. I don’t know how long it’s going to go on. And by the way, I certainly did not anticipate that this would happen because it’s not based on economics, it’s based on politics, and I didn’t see it coming. That’s what’s going on with oil.

Other commodities, such as agriculture, have been depressed for many years, continue to be depressed and will probably be depressed until maybe a few days or weeks later this year because we had a big crop in the US last year. But I’m still extremely optimistic about agriculture, more so than many sectors of the world economy.

As far as gold and silver, I own gold and silver. I haven’t bought gold and silver for some time. There will be another opportunity to buy gold and silver some time in the next couple of years. I hope I’m smart enough to act if and when it happens. At the moment, base metals are a better buy than precious metals, in my view.

Daily Bell: Speaking of agriculture, you’ve been talking that up for some time now. Any specific areas that are good investments, in your view?

Jim Rogers: Usually what’s best is to just find the things that are down the most and invest there. Sugar’s down a lot from it’s all-time Progressivism: A Prime... James Ostrowski Best Price: $8.99 Buy New $10.95 (as of 08:30 UTC - Details) highs so sugar might be a place to look. Just find the ones that are down.

Daily Bell: And what about agricultural land?

Jim Rogers: Yes. If you want to invest in agriculture, the best thing you should do is become a farmer. Buy yourself some land and become a farmer if you’d be any good at it – or even if you’d just be mediocre at it – because there’s going to be some fortunes made in agriculture and when an industry breaks full faith even mediocre people make a lot of money because everything is going right. So if you really want to make a lot of money, that’s the best way to do it. Alternatively, you can buy land and lease it out if you can find a good farmer.

There are other ways to make money in agriculture, of course. You can open a chain of restaurants in the agricultural areas of the world because the farmers are going to be much more successful in the next 30 years than in the last 30 years. Or open shops. Get the Lamborghini dealership in the Midwest. There’s more than one way to make money in agriculture.

Daily Bell: Any particular regions you suggest people consider when it comes to agricultural land investment?

Jim Rogers: Anywhere it’s raining! Anywhere that has good weather, good soil, good laws, and there are many of those around – the African continent, South America, the middle part of Asia. There are many places where there are astonishing opportunities. I’m not sure I would rush out and buy Iowa right now because it’s extremely expensive. But there are lots of places where the opportunities are good.

Daily Bell: What’s your take on the organic food and farming sector?

Jim Rogers: Organic food has a big following, more and more. My wife is one of them. We eat a lot of organic food at our house, and it seems to be spreading rather than declining. I have no idea if organic food is better for you or not, but it doesn’t matter whether I know. A lot of people are keen so it’s got an ever-growing fan base. Against the State: An ... Rockwell Jr., Llewelly... Best Price: $5.02 Buy New $5.52 (as of 11:35 UTC - Details)

Daily Bell: What about investing in water?

Jim Rogers: Well, sure. If you can find a way to invest in water you’re going to make a fortune. No question that water’s going to have incredible opportunities. Don’t own water because if you own it they’ll take it away from you. But if you can find an opportunity to invest in water, it will be very lucrative.

Water has a magnificent future. There have been wars about oil; there will be more wars about water in next 20 years with wars east of the Red Sea over oil; wars east and south of the Red Sea over water. There are many huge water problems – India, parts of China, parts of the US. There are huge water problems developing. It’s going to get worse and if you can figure out the best way, you can make a fortune. But as I said, don’t own water because if you own water the politicians are going to ridicule you and hang you in the public square. If you can solve water problems, they’ll put up a monument to you in the public square but if you own it, they’ll take it away from you and accuse you of exploiting man’s God-given right to water.

Daily Bell: Some are saying the price of gold has collapsed. You believe this is a temporary low?

Jim Rogers: It depends on how you define collapse. It’s down by a third or so more in three years. That’s not my definition of collapse. Gold has not had a correction in many, many years. That’s an anomaly. The fact that it’s had a correction now is just the way markets work. So I don’t think gold has collapsed yet. It might and if it does I hope I’m smart enough to buy it then.

Daily Bell: There’s also been much talk again about manipulation in gold because of recent events in that market. Many are saying it’s been massively manipulated. Your take?

Jim Rogers: I have heard the stories about manipulation for many years – all my life, in fact, or at least for over 30 years. I don’t buy The Lone Gladio Sibel D. Edmonds Best Price: $2.36 Buy New $15.49 (as of 03:55 UTC - Details) it. All commodities are like anything else. They’re based on supply and demand and from what I can gather there are reasons for gold to go down and it’s not manipulation.

Daily Bell: What’s your expectation of what will happen with gold and silver next year?

Jim Rogers: As I said, I expect an opportunity to buy gold again within the next couple years, at which time I expect to do so. Gold has not had a 50% correction in many years, and that’s unusual for most assets. Most things have a 50% correction every three or four years and always have. Gold has not. So if – if – gold has a 50% correction it would go under US$1,000/oz. If that happens. I hope I’m smart enough to buy a lot more gold.

Daily Bell: What concerns you most these days, generally speaking?

Jim Rogers: My main concerns these days are the US Federal Reserve and the world central banks, but especially the US central bank since it’s been the one setting the pace. Never before in world history have we had so many countries printing so much money at all once – Japan, Europe, Great Britain, the US – and so there’s a giant artificial sea of liquidity out there coupled with so much extra debt in the world, and when it ends, it’s going to be a disaster.

When it ends, it’s going to be a big mess for all of us. And unfortunately, the people at the Federal Reserve have no clue. They periodically admit, or let slip, that it’s an experiment for them, too. They’re trying this out. They’re learning as they go. Well, unfortunately, we’re all going to learn the hard way because these academics with their experiment are going to cost us dearly. It’s a shame that we’ve given such power to people who don’t know what they’re doing, but I guess that’s the story of governments throughout history.

Daily Bell: When might that be?

Jim Rogers: It’s not going to end this year. I would say it might by the end of next year or 2016 but, of course, I don’t know. It may Real Dissent: A Libert... Thomas E. Woods Jr. Best Price: $8.48 Buy New $7.93 (as of 03:10 UTC - Details) go another year or two, for all I know, because either the central banks are going to come to their senses, which is unlikely, or eventually, the market’s just going to say “we’re not going to take this garbage anymore” and the market is going to end in the whole process for us. That will be a mess, it will be ugly, it will be painful but that’s the only two options left. They can’t just keep printing for eternity or the world will run out of trees, eventually.

Daily Bell: You’ve been high on China for a long time, of course. How’s the Chinese economy doing?

Jim Rogers: The Chinese economy is slowing because, fortunately, their government’s been trying to slow it. They should have done more, if you ask me, but fortunately, things are slowing down. The Chinese stock market has been the best performing of all stock markets, to my delight. I didn’t know it would be that strong. I started buying shares in November of 2013 again after the economic plenum in Beijing. They said it was one of the three most important economic events in the last 35 years in China, the first two being when Dung Chou Ping said in 1978 we have to open up, we’ve got to try something new, and the second being in 1993 when they said we have to engage more with the outside world, the IMF, World Bank, etc. The third was this one in November 2013. They listed the sectors of the Chinese economy where they were going to emphasize their efforts and their money. So I got that list – it’s a public list, it’s no secret – and started buying Chinese shares again for first time since the fall of 2008 and continue to do so.

Daily Bell: You were hot on Korea last time we talked. How do you see it now?

Jim Rogers: The changes in North Korea continue to accelerate since we spoke last time. As you may know, two of the top three guys went down to South Korea during the Asian Games in a surprise visit and started talking about peace and unification. So it’s all happening at a very rapid rate. They’ve just opened 14 free trade zones, trying to attract outside capital expertise and investment although I have not yet been to those free trade zones.

Daily Bell: What about North Korea from an investment perspective? Amazon.com $50 Gift Ca... Buy New $50.00 (as of 11:05 UTC - Details)

Jim Rogers: One has to go there and do direct investing, of course. There is no stock market. There are no financial markets, no bond markets, nothing like that. It’s only for direct investment. It turns out that it’s legal for Americans to do that in certain areas – pharmaceuticals, food, things like that. You cannot invest in uranium or weapons, of course, but there are things you can invest in. You just have to go there and invest directly.

It’s like China in 1980. Dung Chou Ping said in ’78 we’ve got to change, and they started doing it. These guys have started changing. They’re a year or two into it and it’s accelerating. They’ve had international marathons there. You can take bicycle tours. You can do a lot of things in North Korea now that were inconceivable three years ago.

If the kid’s father were alive he’d probably shoot him. If his grandfather were alive I know he’d torture him and then shoot him. But he and his generals know that the world has changed and they need to change with it.

There’s no question there’s dramatic changes taking place that are happening right now. When I was there I wanted to go to the northern part of North Korea. I wanted to see a place called Rason, because it is the northernmost ice-free port in Asia. The Russians have just renovated and brought the Trans-Siberian Railway into Rason because if you put goods on the train in Rason they get to Berlin or Paris a couple of weeks faster than on the boat. The Russians have built two new docks and the Chinese have built two new docks there. This is all happening right now, as we speak. This is not some day or five years ago. This is happening now. I wanted to go and see.

I read the America propaganda about poor, starving North Koreans, like you. Well, like most propaganda, which leaves something to be desired, I went to an open market and found hundreds of stalls, thousands of customers, with everything that I could conceive of buying. They even had some electronics that were so advanced, for me, that I didn’t know what they were, though I’m pretty hopeless. But they had all kinds of stuff – food, products, alcohol, just about anything you wanted to buy, and people were buying and selling in a big way.

There were hundreds of people crossing the border from China and Russia. When people would see me on the streets they would say hello to me in Russian, as about the only Caucasians up there are Russians. So it’s all happening, and happening in a fairly fast and dramatic way. You wouldn’t know that reading America propaganda but America nearly always gets it late, if we get it. Myanmar we got very late, China we got incredibly late, etc.

Daily Bell: What sources would you recommend for news that’s free of American propaganda or at least more accurate sources?

Jim Rogers: Well, I don’t know. I try to read news from all over world – China, BBC, Russia, US. Then you have to sort of put it together. There are a couple of websites, one in the US devoted to North Korean news. I don’t know if they’re accurate or not but I read it to get views. I’ve been told that often they’re wrong but that’s true of everybody. That’s true of the New York Times. That’s true of a lot of places.

Daily Bell: Talk about Asia more generally. How are countries like Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand doing? Would you recommend investing in any of these?

Jim Rogers: There are opportunities in all three. Thailand’s been having a lot of civil unrest in the last year or so and, of course, oppressive things are happening there. When that sort of thing happens there’s opportunity. So yes, all of those markets do present opportunity now.

Whenever there’s a coup or civil strife it’s an opportunity as well as a disaster, depending on how you play it. I’m sure there are great opportunities in Thailand right now. I don’t know them. I bought shares in an airline before the unrest so I’m losing money but it may well turn out to be a great opportunity for people whose timing is better than mine.

Daily Bell: Let’s talk briefly about Europe, which is still struggling. Give us an overview of what’s happening there.

Jim Rogers: Europe’s a big place, with lots of countries, and I’m not too interested right now. Stock markets keep going higher. There is more money printing coming so you’ll probably do well in the investing markets there but just be sure you know what’s going on. Be sure you know why stocks are going up, because of artificial money printing. I did buy a defense stock there recently and an airline there recently but I hope these are special situations.

The currency’s down a lot. I’m not buying the currency. I mainly own the US dollar and renminbi these days. You see what’s happened to Japanese markets, the way the stock market’s gone up a lot for a variety of reasons. That may happen in Europe, too, although I’m not playing Europe.

Daily Bell: Will a European QE help matters?

Jim Rogers: It will help the markets, just like it has in the US. But as I say, invest there as long as you understand what’s going on and understand the reality that when it ends, it’s going to end badly because of artificial money printing. If you look out the window you’ll see a huge artificial sea of liquidity. At this stage of the world’s economy you’d be better off being a 26-year-old with no experience and little wisdom.

Daily Bell: Why do you say that?

Jim Rogers: They think this is real. They think this is normal. They think they’re smart. They buy a stock and it goes up. Most people, unfortunately, who go into markets think the market started the day they showed up or the day they got out of university or something, and so they don’t know. They have no sense of history, no sense of reality, no sense of how things work. They came in the market, nearly everything they touched goes up and as things get hotter and hotter, they go up more and more. So these kids think this is the way the world works and they think they’re geniuses because everything they touch is great.

So somebody like me who has experience and maybe some wisdom and maybe some historical knowledge knows that these things always end badly. These kids have no idea of that so they just pile in with both feet, huge leverage do everything they can. The wilder the story the more they buy, thinking that this is normal. It’s not normal. It’s happened millions of times throughout history. But that’s why it’s better to be 26 at this stage of the market than older with experience.

Daily Bell: Let’s turn to Russia and Ukraine. What’s your take on that region?

Jim Rogers: I first went to Russia and Ukraine in 1966 and came away pessimistic, bearish, and was pessimistic for the next 46 years. Russia, I’m optimistic about now because of the changes happening there. I bought more shares there recently. Ukraine I’ve been bearish about for 48 years and I continue to be bearish on Ukraine. It has been and is a horribly managed country, for whatever reason. It’s no wonder that Crimea wanted to join Russia. Whatever problems Russia has pale in comparison to the problems in Ukraine.

Russia has huge resources, both financial and natural. It’s got convertible currency. It’s very depressed. It’s hated by everybody. I recently became a director of a large Russian phosphorous and fertilizer company. I bought a few shares. I bought some shares of the index. I bought some shares in Russia. I haven’t bought a whole lot yet but I continue to look for and anticipate buying more.

The currency is a disaster and so I don’t know where it will bottom. Usually when things start spiraling downward they go down too far. I hope the Russians have decided they’re going to let the market decide, which in my view is exactly the right thing to do. I hope they don’t panic and change and try to put on controls or something.

One reason I own mainly US dollars now is because there is and there’s going to be more currency turmoil worldwide. When that happens many people will flee to the US dollar as a safe haven. It’s not a safe haven. It’s a horrible, terribly flawed currency and it’s going to have many problems down the road. In the meantime, I own it because I know everybody’s going to flee to the dollar. Eventually, of course, it may turn into a bubble, at which point I hope I’m smart enough to sell. What I do with my money at that point, I don’t know.

But there’s a lot of currency turmoil and that’s one reason that in the next year or two all of this crazy artificial ocean of liquidity has to dry up, because we have huge moves – the Japanese currency’s down 50% in two or the years, the ruble the same thing, the euro not 50% but a lot. These are staggering moves. We’re not talking about some obscure currency somewhere, we’re talking about the yen, we’re talking about the euro, we’re talking about the ruble, the Brazilian real – lots of currencies. There’s going to be somebody on the wrong side of these trades. I don’t know who but we’re going to see sometime before too much longer some big losses coming from somewhere.

Daily Bell: These changes you see coming about in Russia are because…

Jim Rogers: The changes in Russia have come about because they realize they cannot just shoot people, steal from people, throw people in jail for no reason. They’ve realized they have to play by international rules, whether it’s because Mr. Putin is worried about his historical image or for whatever reason. I don’t know what it is but something has happened.

Putin has set out to make the Moscow Stock Exchange a major financial center. I don’t know whether it will do it or not. To me, it’s kind of a crazy thought, trying to build that right in the home of Lenin, the home of Stalin. But that’s what he’s setting out to do.

Daily Bell: How about the Islamic state? What effect is that situation having generally and on markets, if any?

Jim Rogers: That’s another one of those cases where, unfortunately, the US State Department has shot itself in the foot. We started all that and now it’s backfiring on us. I don’t know. But no, at this point it’s a lot of press and it may turn out to be much more. It may take over the Middle East. As I said, the Saudis are dumping oil because America asked them to put pressure on Iran and Russia and the Saudis are happy to oblige and drive the price of oil down so maybe it will bankrupt and shock and scare some of the fracking boom in the US. So the Saudis are quite happy to cooperate with the State Department and drive down the price of oil. It’s temporary, it’s artificial but this creates a wonderful opportunity to buy oil.

Daily Bell: Are we going to have a repeat war in Iraq with Western involvement? When do these wars stop?

Jim Rogers: Unfortunately, there’s apparently a whole group of people in Washington that loves war, including Obama, and until they no longer have the power or the sway or influence, it’s going to continue to go on. We keep making mistake after mistake after mistake. So do other people, by the way. It’s not just the US making these mistakes. Unfortunately, that just gets worse.

You asked about the Islamic state. The people that we set up are now turned into ISIS and are not helping us at all. They’re using our guns against Syria but also against Iraq and against Iran so we may end up being allies with Iran because we got these guys started and they have turned into a nightmare – another mistake. So as I say, everything we do in the Middle East seems to turn out wrong.

Daily Bell: Speaking of warmongers in Washington, what do you make of the recent US elections?

Jim Rogers: I don’t know that they’re going to change very much. I don’t see anybody there who wants to cut taxes and dismantle the government. We’ve been here before and even if we do have a new mob who wants to cut taxes and dismantle the government, Obama’s very keen on government and very keen on taxes. Lots of politicians say they want to cut taxes and dismantle the government but I don’t see it happening. I’ve been hearing that all my life and yet the government gets bigger and bigger, the tax burden worse and worse and the regulations get worse. They all say it; none of them do it. They contribute to problem rather than solution.

Daily Bell: To what extent is FATCA playing a role now in impacting Americans’ abilities to do business anywhere in the world, from your experience?

Jim Rogers: FATCA’s making it more and more difficult for Americans to do business around world – to do anything around world. When you have more and more capital controls, it obviously eventually causes problems. History’s full of examples of that. I told you we’re going to have more problems in currency markets in the next couple of years. That’s partly because of FATCA. Fewer and fewer Americans can easily move their money around. When you restrict capital flows, you also make it hard to do business. FATCA’s going to be part of the problem and make things worse.

There are some places where I’ve had bank accounts a long time. They just called me up and said we love you but we’ve got to close you out because you’re an American. They’re places I’ve had accounts a long time, and I’ve always reported everything. It doesn’t matter, though. They just don’t want Americans anymore. Others won’t open accounts, as you know, so it’s certainly reducing the flow of capital around the world and it’s putting Americans at greater and greater disadvantage.

Daily Bell: How much is this is already contributing to the demise of the dollar?

Jim Rogers: Unfortunately, this situation is threatening the rest of the world to come up with alternatives, which in the end are going to be bad for America and Americans. I don’t like saying this, but people are already trying to find ways to compete with the US dollar and the US banking system. This is only accelerating the process. If we stop being the world’s reserve currency we’re going to be in a serious, serious bind. This is just going to accelerate all that.

Daily Bell: What’s your take on Obama’s recent executive order on immigration?

Jim Rogers: As far as I’m concerned, I would do away with passports and visas entirely. I’m a bit of a free-marketeer in this regard. What is the inscription on the Statue of Liberty? “Bring me your unwashed … ” Unfortunately, the great unwashed probably couldn’t get in right now, your forebears and mine. Those were people with ambition, energy, capital, new ideas and after they left their home countries and settled in the US, we became the most successful country in the world. So I would go back to those days of no passports or visas.

Dung Chou Ping said when he opened up China, ‘Well, sure, when you open the window you will get some flies’ but on the whole, sunshine and fresh air, fresh ideas, ambition, drive, energy, capitol is a lot better than the staggering amounts of time and energy that’s wasted the way things are.

Daily Bell: At the Daily Bell we write about asset protection and international second-home options as strategies people may want to consider, especially right now. In fact, High Alert has recently announced a new community being developed in Colombia. Do you encourage people to leave the US, as you’ve done personally?

Jim Rogers: Leaving any place is a major decision. Even if you move from, say, Illinois to Ohio or Los Angeles to St. Louis, that’s a big jump. It’s a very deeply personal decision. I did it mainly so that my children would be educated in Asia and speak Chinese. I see great opportunities elsewhere. My forebears a few hundred years ago saw great opportunities and left their homeland to pursue those opportunities and, as I said, many people are doing that now, and not just those in the US. You’ve got to be brave, adventuresome and either very dumb or very smart to leave your own country. I can’t make that kind of decision. It’s often a very wise thing to do but everybody has to decide it themselves.

Of course, it can be the wrong thing to do. On one of my trips around the world I met a family in Siberia who were Russians. When the Revolution came, when chaos came, they packed up and moved to China, in the ’20s or ’30s. Then, of course, China became a disaster so they moved to Argentina. I said to them, “I want to know where you’re going next because you guys have always gotten it wrong in your family!” Well, they moved back to Siberia. They may have gotten it right. They didn’t have it right for a while but if they’re still there, they may have it right now. Just because you move to another country, there’s no guarantee. You’ve got to make sure you get it right.

Daily Bell: What about securing a second passport? Is that a wise move, in your opinion?

Jim Rogers: Again, those are decisions that only people can make for themselves but I will say this. We all have life insurance policies; we all have fire insurance. We hope we never use it. I hope my fire insurance policy I never use. I hope I lose money from my fire insurance policy. Maybe people can consider investing abroad or having a second passport along those same lines. So a second passport is perfectly legal and moral but I have to let everybody decide that.

Again, nearly everybody reading this, their forebears left their homeland one time or another. There are millions and millions of people leaving their homeland. It’s a huge move but it’s not uncommon. It’s not at all uncommon and you usually find it’s the ambitious, knowledgeable people who even consider it. Not that there are not ambitious, knowledgeable people who do not do it but history would show that you have to be very brave to make a move like this.

Again, 150 years ago there essentially were no passports, no visas, none of this stuff. People just showed up. People showed up at Ellis Island – they had to register in those days, but you could go anywhere and do anything. Then governments, the British especially, decided we needed to control people more so this whole thing of passports and visas developed.

I don’t know if you travel much but the millions of hours and dollars that are wasted crossing borders is astronomical. Try to land at JFK. Try to land anywhere. And if you’ve got to get visas that’s more expense and time. All of this is insane, the amount of money and time that is spent just entering or crossing a border. And for a few thousand years this sort of thing didn’t exist. You just went if you wanted to. The world was better for it. The world would be again if and when it disappears again. The money that would be saved and the hours that would be saved would do us all better.

But as far as more than one passport, it’s legal – for Americans, anyway – and if they want to do it, it’s a personal decision only the individual can make. I will say, one reason that Americans can have second passports is because many people in America – the Jews, the Poles, etc. – throughout their history have known the value and insurance policy of a second passport and that’s one reason that in America it’s one of the freedoms we still have. We’re losing more and more of our freedoms but at least we still have that one.

Daily Bell: We’re also optimistic about cannabis as an investment and an industry. How about you?

Jim Rogers: From everything I read, it looks like the world is going to legalize cannabis in the next decade or two and if that’s the case, there are staggering opportunities. When you go from a world in which it was very difficult if not impossible to get to one in which it’s legal, that’s enormous. It will certainly be much cheaper if it’s legal, so sure. I haven’t found the way to invest yet but I see the same thing you do. More and more jurisdictions are legalizing marijuana. It seems that it’s not terribly dangerous, certainly less dangerous than nicotine or alcohol.

I don’t have any cannabis investments because of sloth or ineptitude or something but I would suspect that the whole world will legalize cannabis just like they did with tobacco and as most did with alcohol. There are going to be huge opportunities; I don’t know them yet. I know you guys have done a lot of work on cannabis. I just haven’t had a chance to dig into it yet.

Daily Bell: Once cannabis becomes a global, regulated industry will large corporations gobble up the smaller startups creating a tobacco-type industry, if you will?

Jim Rogers: I think it will become more of an alcohol industry. It doesn’t mater. It’s going to become a leisure industry of great size. And yes, since it’s new, obviously small players can get involved now. It’s not easy for you and me to get into the alcohol business because there are a lot of giants in front of us but with cannabis, as I said, it seems like there will be enormous opportunities.

Daily Bell: In closing, what advice would you give that 26-year-old you mentioned earlier?

Jim Rogers: If you know a 26-year-old who can get out of the market before the financial industry collapses again, first of all, she’s very smart. I want to meet her. I’d say to her, you better start reading a lot of history next year to temper your enthusiasm. The same result is coming again. Don’t read the stuff this year because it will impede you, slow you down. But starting next summer, start reading a lot of history.

Secondly, she should definitely know another language. Finally, she should definitely, if she likes the outdoors, farming or planting, consider agriculture. We’ve had many periods in world history when the financial types have been the center of the universe and many periods when the people who produce real goods are the center of the universe. Well, that’s coming again. Finance is going to have serious problems but agriculture has got a great future.

Daily Bell: Thanks for your time!

Reprinted with permission from The Daily Bell.