Economic Warfare

Synopsis

The abject failure of government policymakers leading up to and following the 2008 financial crisis has created a perilous environment for entrepreneurs and investors. Ziad Abedlnour, a private equity specialist and noted investment analyst, argues that the political/financial elites have done nothing to fix the structural problems and instead have worsened the situation by creating more market bubbles and waging a war on the most productive members of society. For investors and business people, the world is now upside down. Government bonds have gone from low risk to high risk, while commodities have gone from high risk to low risk. Former communist countries, in many cases, offer better investment opportunities than nominally capitalist countries of the west. Pulling no punches, Abdelnour castigates the Federal Reserve and government officials for acting on behalf of a small segment of the financial community to the detriment of most everyone else. For investors that need to navigate the troubled geopolitical waters of the post-crisis world, Abedlnour offers several solutions, including: looking at world anew and understanding that capital tends to flow to stable countries that promote innovation and competition. Specifically, he forecasts that commodities are in a long-term bull market and have emerged as the least risky asset in the post-crisis world. And with the world facing long-term shortages of energy and food, he advocates looking toward companies that provide energy, agricultural, and transportation innovations. Most importantly, he tells investors that risk must be prudently managed, particularly in areas where political ineptitude may cause rapid price shocks, such as currencies and bonds. Wealth can be created in the new, post-crisis world, but investors need to understand the rules of the game have changed.