Monday, September 01, 2008

Jim Rogers CNBC squawk box interview - 29 Aug

Let Fannie/Freddie and banks fail then replace Bernanke w/Trichet

"Why should the 300 million Americans take on the $6 trillion of debt that Fannie and Freddie incurred?" he said. "Let them go bankrupt, we have bankruptcy courts, that's what they're for, they will reorganize and start over."

"I, as a taxpayer, and 300 million other taxpayers, should not be on the hook for these guys' mistakes," he added.

"There are a lot of 29 years-old out there are driving Maseratis, let them turn in their Maseratis."

"Maybe in 20 years we will have 29-year old farmers driving Maseratis instead of 29–year-old investment bankers driving Maseratis,"

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just curious- does Jim Rogers stand to benefit financially if Fannie/Freddie fail? Is he on the benefiting end of some credit default swap? He seems like he really wants them to fail. He was really pissed when the Fed bailed out Bear Stearns as well. He probably missed out on a big payday there. I really don't think he is concerned about the average middle-class American. He pretty much cashed out and left this country for Asia hoping to reap a financial windfall as America goes down the tubes. Seems borderline traitorous to me... I think he is out for himself and his own financial interests.

FOFOA said...

Frank,

Jim Rogers has been short financials for years. He recently covered those shorts as the financials rallied. Your comment has been the mainstream criticism of people like Rogers and Schiff for quite some time. They are called unpatriotic. But they do not wish for the collapse. The collapse is happening regardless of anyone's wishes. There is nothing wrong with individuals trying to protect themselves, and that goes for Rogers and Schiff as well. And thank God that some of the networks still let them spread the word. Hopefully a few more people will protect themselves as well. We will need people who still have money to help rebuild our economy once we get to the other side.

The bailouts make things worse in the long run. They simply push the pain farther down the road and amplify it at the same time.

FOFOA