Marc Faber | The Wealth Gap, Populism, and the Prospects for War in Asia

In this Market Forces segment of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with the investor, commentator, and editor of the Gloom, Boom, and Doom Report, Marc Faber. Though Dr. Faber has been dubbed "Dr. Doom," by the financial press, he is perhaps most famous for his very accurate timing of the US stock market bottom in March 2009. A veteran of the financial industry, Dr. Faber worked during the 1970's for White Weld & Company Limited in New York City, Zurich, and Hong Kong. He moved to Hong Kong in 1973. He was a managing director at Drexel Burnham Lambert Ltd Hong Kong from the beginning of 1978 until 1990. In 1990, he set up his own business, Marc Faber Limited, acting as an investment advisor and fund manager. Marc Faber now resides in Chiang Mai, Thailand, though he keeps a small office in Hong Kong.

In this nearly hour-long conversation, Marc Faber speaks with Demetri Kofinas about the growing wealth and income disparity across the world, with particular emphasis on the United States. They examine the role that central bank policy, government bailouts, and ultra-low interest rates have played in exacerbating this trend towards inequality and financial system instability. The two discuss Uber, where Demetri draws a parallel between the technology company’s practice of subsidizing its customers at the expense of its investors to the practice of Asian savers subsidizing American consumers during the 2000's housing boom. Marc Faber expresses a negative outlook for the US dollar in the near-term, taking a strongly bearish view of equities, in particular, the FANG stocks (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, and Google). He believes that the Federal Reserve, rather than succeed in its efforts to shrink its balance sheet, will be overcome by deflationary events in the market and forced to begin expanding its balance sheet once again. Marc Faber believes that western central banks will look to buy more than just government bonds, CDOs, and government-backed mortgages. He is of the mind that just as the Bank of Japan has come to own two-thirds of the ETF market in Japan, so too can western central banks. Indeed, Marc Faber believes that central banks will do whatever they need to do in order to prevent the financial system from collapsing, and this means “printing more money.”

Demetri Kofinas also ask Marc Faber about Bitcoin, and what his views are on cryptocurrencies. Marc also gives his views on gold, structural demographics, populism, and the potential for war in Asia. The two end their conversation with best Marc Faber’s investment advice for anyone looking to navigate the ensuing years of financial turmoil and market volatility.

Producer & Host: Demetri Kofinas

Editor: Stylianos Nicolaou

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