September 29, 2010
Kiev, Ukraine
In our regular conversations, we talk a lot about planting multiple flags to diversify sovereign risk. I’m convinced that governments are the greatest enemy to prosperity, and the way to protect ourselves is to diversify our assets and interests across multiple geographies so that no single government has control.
Ordinarily, we talk about jurisdictions like Panama or Hong Kong– great places to bank or structure a company. But there are literally infinite facets of our lives that can be diversified overseas, ranging from places for shopping to places for cheap medical care.
Every country has something to offer… and despite its almost nihilistic level of corruption and bureaucracy, Ukraine is no exception.
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September 28, 2010
Kiev, Ukraine
I gave a speech last night in Kiev to a large audience of bright, young minds who are about to start their professional lives and wanted to find out more about global opportunities.
The topic of my remarks was how to survive and thrive in the Age of Turmoil, why there are tremendous opportunities around the world, and how to capitalize on them.
In order to set the stage properly, though, I discussed why sovereign risk is the greatest risk we all face. In the coming years, I believe that governments will reduce individual freedoms, increase taxes, seize retirement accounts, take over private enterprise, provoke wars, engage in protectionism, etc.
These things are already happening. Politicians and bureaucrats continue to wreck their respective economies by using that tired old playbook of 1) Inflate the currency; 2) Indebt and spend. These plays never work… and as unrest grows and patience thins, politicians will step up their efforts to take control.
The majority of my audience grew up in the post-Soviet era… but they understand this danger quite well. Ukraine is corrupt, volatile, and highly bureaucratic, and they know that their government is a major obstacle to prosperity.
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