American Consequences - July 2017

ANSWERS TO THE SAME THREE QUESTIONS

basis of the idea that the cryptos will eat a significant portion of the conventional economy in the years ahead... 3. Deloitte predicts that blockchain- based assets will make up at least 10% of global GDP by 2025: That would mean an increase from $100 billion market cap today to $7 trillion in 8 years... So as a family office, we feel that we need exposure to this emerging asset class. I believe that many other family offices, funds, and investment groups will do likewise as the performance of

Naresh Vissa, entrepreneur and author of Podcastnomics 1. Central banks are still the way to go. The U.S. got off the gold standard decades ago, and the millennial generation isn’t as into physical gold as the baby boomers are. 2. Bitcoin is incredibly complicated. The reason it hasn’t taken off as a form of currency (forget about its value) is because the average Joe doesn’t want to get it. Adoption is still slow. Governments are decades away from understanding and viably acting on it. There is no telling where bitcoin will be in five years. The real value in bitcoin is the blockchain technology. 3. That said, I still own a little bit of precious metals and alt currencies – not a ton, but probably less than 5% combined. There’s not much risk in owning some here and there.

the cryptos catches their attention and they become more accessible. For now, the performance of my personal crypto account looks like a fantasyland... more than quadrupling in three and a half months...

1. In which monetary standard do you have the most confidence – gold, central banks, or bitcoin? 2. How have you expressed this view in your portfolio? 3. What’s the major risk you face as a result?

Nick Giambruno, senior editor at International Man 1. Perhaps this is best done through the process of elimination...

Beirne White, financial researcher 1. Gold. 2. On March 14, I sold 100% of our stocks, and now sit half cash, half SPDR Gold Trust (GLD). 3. That it really is different this time.

One of my favorite memories of Ron Paul is the grilling he gave former Fed chief Ben Bernanke on basic economics. This exchange is not very well known... But it’s very instructive. Ron Paul was quizzing Bernanke on the difference between “credit” and “savings,” and whether the

58 | July 2017

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