A reader question from Beth: I would appreciate hearing from Mr. Casey and company about the best potential places for older, political moderates, probably cultural conservatives, to move to avoid the coming US social changes, to avoid the surveillance state, to protect their investments.
Since Mr. Casey and friends have bolt holes in Argentina, although it is a mess, apparently you think it's safe, at least for folks with your resources. But for folks who have saved up good but less than a million dollars in IRAs, whose home is valued at $160,000, who already are in a rural area, where can we be safe?
Again, thank you for the good information. But where should we look? Uruguay? Argentina and Chile since they have more Europeans and maybe blondes so we wouldn't stick out so much?
Doug Casey: The whole world is going in the wrong direction. Every country in the world has a Congress or a Parliament. What these people do all day is pass laws, deciding what you must do, or must not do. Furthermore, all the world's governments are bankrupt because they've created welfare states to a greater or lesser degree.
Joe Lewis was right. "You can run, but you can't hide."
That said, if you can afford it—and not everybody can—you should have a crib in another jurisdiction. Market risks today are huge—but political risks are even greater.
Right now, I'm writing this from Uruguay. Why? Because it's small and rural, with low population density, it has always been among the most peaceful countries in Latin America. It's a quiet, somewhat backward place, but not a banana republic.
On the downside, it's a total welfare state—the world's first actually, along with New Zealand and Sweden. Wages for locals are low, import duties and taxes are high, and the cost of living is higher than the US. But on the bright side, there are no taxes on foreign income. That's a huge plus. It's also the most ethnically European of the Latin American countries.
I've also always favored Argentina, which has a similar ethnic makeup but is culturally much more sophisticated. The problem with all Latin countries is their governments. Unstable, highly regulated, highly taxed, corrupt, and deeply indebted.
That's on the downside. On the upside, Argentina, as we speak, is probably the cheapest developed country in the world. Land and building costs are now at giveaway levels. If you look around, there are lots of distress sales that you can take advantage of. The cost of living is extremely low.
I could go on for hours about Latin America; I've spent lots of time in every country. And have written many articles, a good number of which are free on the internet. So brief comments here are no more than generalities.
What you have to do is get on a plane and explore these places. It's no good talking about them at a distance. You have to actually come down and get boots on the ground for a few weeks or months before you make a move. Of course, it's going to be some months before the planes will fly again. But when they fly again, get on one.
The clock is always ticking. And the next ten years are going to be increasingly unpleasant and inconvenient for many people who aren't politically diversified.
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