Marc Faber on Money Printing, Asset Allocation, Crude Oil and More

Here's a 2 part interview of Marc Faber by Future Money Trends uploaded on the 29th of April 2012.

In the first video, MArc Faber explains that money printing won't help the general population, but it will increase asset prices, so people who own assets will benefit. The other issue is that central banks can't control where the money go and as a consequence the unemployment rate has not improved much ion the US and in Europe, but people living in emerging economies have benefited.

When asked about equities, he said that also equities are not a good bargain right now, and we may have the high for the end on the S&P 500 at 1422, there is a big risk in not owning equities because of (you guessed it) money printing. He recommends to own some equities especially in Asia (dividends are good ~ 5 to 7%) possibly via ETFs, some precious metals, and for US residents, some real estate in the South of the US.

He concludes by explaining that eventually there will be a complete reset, a complete collapse because there is simply too much debt with bankrupt banks lending to bankrupt to governments and vice versa, and the Ponzi scheme will come to an end. In the second video, they discuss how the ponzi scheme could end. Marc thinks there could be significant price inflation, government may try to give more handouts to their citizen while increasing taxes on rich people, and eventually they'll go to war to put the blame on some other countries.

Then  they switch to discussing about crude oil. Marc Faber first explains that oil prices are volatile and much of it is due to government policy such as manipulating interest rates. When he looks at several aspect of the oil market (demand in the west flat, demand rising in emerging markets, supply constraint and geopolitical tensions in the middle east), he would rather be long on oil.

Marc then talks about  the declining standard of living of US citizen which has started some 30 to 40 years ago compared to the rest of the world and it will continue to fall.

Finally, he's asked what he would advice to young people in Western economies. It might not always be a good idea to borrow money to get a degree, but if your parents are rich enough to pay it, then go for it. He would then start to work for somebody successful in any industry and acquire knowledge. Obviously, you should choose something that you like. There are different kind of success, not only monetary, but a happy family, helping others may also be successes.