I like Doug Casey, but, about Argentina, he speaks like a naive gringo. He lived in an isolated resort, I wager with private security and behind high walls, yet he thinks that form that perspective he can understand Argentina. Now, I’m not Argentinian myself, but, hailing from Brazil, I know a thing or two about it, for most of it is not different at all from Brazil.

Leaving aside the implicitly racist comment about Argentinians being almost completely white, he’s dead wrong about their somehow not being a Latin people in S. America, especially when Nick pointed their origin from Latin countries in Europe. Argentinians are as Latin as Brazilians or Venezuelans and other neighboring countries, whose people came from mostly the same countries as Argentina.

It’s not that government regulations are merrily ignored; they are not. They are strongly enforced, but waived on a case by case basis… for the right price. Argentina is an utterly corrupt country, as much as the other Latin American countries. And since the work of the police is about collecting bribes, laws against theft and robbery are enforced only if time allows or public repercussion obliges. A rich man like Doug could have the laws that he wants, no problem. But all that that accomplishes is to show the criminal class, part of which is found in the police force, that he’d make a profitable victim for kidnapping.

I could go on, but an Argentinian could do this better than a Brazilian: go to http://ferfal.blogspot.com and punch in “Doug Casey” in the search box and read on how Doug has no idea what he’s talking about. And, if he’s so wrong about a country where he lived in, how right could he be about other countries?

The fact is that, for a lot of good and bad reasons, the US is the center of the global economy. When, not if, it gets bad here, peripheral countries like Argentina and even European countries, will have been hit first and harder. Sure, I’d rather live under an incompetent tyrannical government than under a competent tyrannical one, but I’d wait for the dust around the globe to settle a little before deciding where to seek refuge, when, as Nick said, collecting foreign passports might come in handy.

Oh and I have to say this is very disappointing:

The Complete 6-Part America’s Tax-Free Zone Video Course for $695

If it’s so complicated to benefit from this tax shelter that I ned to pay $700 for it, then I’m suspicious. I guess it bears looking into but I’m not impressed by the cost of this course.