Jim Rogers (1) (1942–)

I mostly enjoyed this book. There were a lot of informative segments about saving, spending, and futile inflation in Washington.

There were a few segments where I had to do a double-take, and I don't know what to do with these observations but share them with you:

Jim claims that immigration laws started in the 1920s "at the instigation of the Ku Klux Klan" and that "before that, our borders were open." I don't know what history books Jim has been reading, but prior to the 1920s, America had show more some tight restrictions regarding African, Chinese, and Native American populations, with special clauses added for different diseases (understandable) and disabilities (not so understandable).

Elsewhere, Jim speculates about investing in North Korea, and that its partnership with China makes it a promising startup among emerging markets. He also notes that a reunified North and South Korea would make them a powerhouse that would have Japan shaking in its boots. I mostly agree! North Korea has mineable resources and cheap labor... some would say slave labor, depending on which part of the country, but okay. Jim also points to tourism of North Korea by South Korean men looking for a wife as another profitable industry. Look, Jim, I get that fluctuating markets and supply/demand are your specialty, but if all you have to say about North Korea is "kill the men with backbreaking labor, sell the women to their neighbors across the border," I'll leave the statecraft to someone else. Then again, why would an investor who glosses over slave labor in US history bother with the details of transforming a broken society? This book's about the money!

There's a bit where he worries about overworking his children with hours of homework and not letting them play enough, compared to the American school system that doesn't have any homework for second graders... I had plenty of contempt for that portion. My elementary school years were marked with plenty of homework, some easy, some difficult, but never "none." Jim reflects on the value of his own childhood spent playing outdoors, but decides to err on the side of rigorous academics. Thanks for sharing, Jim? I think the neighbor who said his children will gravitate toward their interests whether or not they're academically drilled had the most sense. Never let school get in the way of or substitute for a good education.

I also found it rich that he called out so many investment crooks, ponzi schemers, and incompetent yes-men legislators and lobbyists, then turned around and said Occupy Wall Street was too harsh on the one percent. If his ethics are clean, what was his problem with the movement? He identified the wealthy benefactors himself!

Okay, now it sounds like all I did was rail on the book, but those bits were small compared to his insights over the course of decades. I don't have to like Jim personally to absorb the value of his economics lessons. show less

It's interesting to see someone's real-life opinions of other countries, but while I usually agree with Jim Rogers about how to invest, I don't agree much with his political/economic analysis. I think he is far too quick to give Republicans (and their equivalents in other countries) the benefit of the doubt, believing their claims that what they are after is a better life for all rather than looting as much as possible as soon as possible.

I think he's also way too naive about how vicious show more and awful most people are.
In his world, war, deflation, corruption and so on are apparently imposed by external agents (the wicked "politicians") and have nothing to do with the honest, decent countryfolk that inhabit each nation.

I also have to wonder at the mechanisms of his plan for saving Africa, namely debt relief. As others have pointed out, the nations of Africa could repudiate their debt today and not be crippled by interest payments. They do not do so because they want to borrow more. Relieving their debt would allow them to take on a boat-load of new debt, with no obvious reason to believe that the newly acquired debt would be directed towards anything more productive than was the last round.

So what we have is a travel book, written from an unusual viewpoint, whose political musing should, IMHO, be completely ignored. show less

I read this book to get ideas on how to invest. It turned out to be a pretty fun travel book. Jim Rogers dubbed the “Indiana Jones of Investing” decided to drive around the world in a car after doing the same thing ten years ago. Last time he went along on a motorcycle; this time he took his fiancé, got married, and spent three years pursuing this idea.

This is a multi-millionaire and while investing was one of the major reasons to go on this trip, he wants to also experience life – show more life as the locals live it. The list of local delicacies he ate at each country is too long to list. Though I do wonder why he ate at Applebee’s in Tucson; Applebee’s is considered local cuisine.

He candidly describes the customs and the points out the bureaucracy and corruption of the world. Particularly he hates the idea of foreign aid to countries. Foreign aid in a country just creates a generation that learns how to live in a welfare state. Furthermore, besides the corruption of leaders of other countries, there is the sadly the corruption of our own officials in particular Africa. Our tax monies are being spent on their Mercedes, security guards, and flying in people for conferences – conferences to find ways to spend the money wisely and to get even more.

This is a man with money and a lot of connections but he still had lots of troubles with access to other countries. The guy is brave; he went through several war zones as well. If anyone decides to go to a Third World Country, here some advice: bring lots of Coca-Cola, Polaroid cameras, and cigarettes.

The book is rather fast paced but honestly humorous. Some of the best parts of the book are getting a ground eye view of other countries and selling me the idea of going somewhere bolder for my next vacation. show less

I am not sure how useful it is in terms of advice to anybody else' daughters but there are tidbits of wisdom here regarding investment. Nothing groundbreaking or new but still interesting nonetheless coming from a such unique person as Jim Rogers. Very short and unusual book.