When the world Becomes a Village: from United States to United Nations

- This is just an abstract of interview script

System Design Frontier (SDF): Jim Rogers, a legendary investor, alumni of both Yale University and Oxford University, co-founder of Quantum Fund, the author of 3 best selling books, Investment Biker, Adventure Capitalist and Hot Commodities, also a media commentator worldwide

SDF: Being an exceptionally successful investor, do you think anyone wanna be as successful as you, or in certain degree, should be more passionate or more rational?

Jim Rogers (JR): In order to be successful, or course, you need passion, you have to love what you are doing, and stick with it for long time

SDF: What is your comment on yesterday's breaking news on Bill Gates' plan of power transition?

JR: I think it's good for him and also for Microsoft, maybe it's a good time for him to leave. Things happen in that way

SDF: As the no. 1 in the top contrarian inventors listed, how did you discover those segments with great potential to be invested where other people typically ignore? What is the rule of thumb, taking Commodities investment as an example?

JR: People used call it contrarian, I do not call it that way. The trick to making money in the investment world is to buy things, which other people are not buying by definition, because those are the things that are cheap, so I guess that does make you a contrarian. My investment strategy has been the same for a few decades. I try to buy cheap, where there is a positive change-taking place and I try to sell things that are expensive where there is a negative change-taking place. That hasn't changed and I can't see that ever would change. As far as I know, that's how people make money in the investment world. You buy low and sell high. That's the way it has been and will always be.

SDF: What is the key different between an investor, a businessman (whose business is invested by others) and an investment manager like fund manager?

JR: Investors make investments based on their own decision, it is much more independent. For businessmen, they run business under the pressure of shareholders, and dealing with customers, so it is a total different story. Now for institutional investment manager, they mange funds for other investors, such as individuals and institutions, they may do what they are asked to do by a committee or something like that

SDF: In your most recent worldwide trip with your wife by a racing car, you covered 116 countries, based on your 1st hand observation, what is the impact of culture of a nation upon the development history of that nation? (e.g., American culture, Chinese culture, Japanese culture, German culture among other are radically different)?


JR: Yes, there is an impact for sure. But that really depends, since the culture is changing from time to time. The China culture in 1960s and the China culture now are totally different, and the culture in the US in 1830s and 1950s are also different. So you should look at the time frame when you talk about culture, it won't e fixed forever

SDF: In your best selling book, Adventure Capitalist, you paid a great detail on describing the relationship with your parents, what was your parents' (especially your Daddy's) influence on your career development? Did they push you hard or you were an originally born as a self-motivator?

JR: I should say both. My parents raised me, taught me how to read and write, other than that, I was not pushed that hard. In the meantime, I motivated myself a lot of course.

SDF: Being a US householder name (maybe worldwide I guess), you attended Ivy League school Yale, now comparing to your experience at Oxford as well as US military comparing to your Yale experience, which one offers you most valuable experience in achieving your current success?

JR: Yes, those were all great experience I would say. In Yale, I indeed learnt a lot. At age of seventeen, I left my hometown to go to colleague, thousands miles away from my hometown, it was big change in my life. But it really depends, for example, I have friends in Yale who are not that successful nowadays.

SDF: In your best selling book, Adventure Capitalist, you made insightful comments on US politics, especially US foreign policies, now in terms of US domestic policies, among the following issues, what is most important to be addressed? retirement plan reform, healthcare reform, education reform, and immigration policy reform

JR: For all of those four, they are equally important. Our systems are broken, whether education system or healthcare system, or others. Definitely we need to fix those problems, to make them better. On immigration side, America is a country built upon immigration. If the US open to door to the whole world, much more immigrants shall come in, and those hard-working immigrants definitely will help us

SDF: In the US and other developed countries, people are talking about how to tackle of tackle the challenges of Digital Divide? And in developing like China, the most challenging problem now is Wealth Divide, In your own perspective, how to solve the Wealth Divide worldwide?

JR: Yes, that is a problem we need to solve first. I think we need to solve economic problems first, and then look at the Wealth Divide issue. In human being history, it happens in that way. For the rich, we need to help the poor, help them by training them to make a good living

SDF: In your most recent best selling book, Hot Commodities, you mentioned that two facts determine prices of commodities - supply and demand, now that is for natural resources, how about human capital?

JR: Human capital is the most important capital in fact, and that relies on both education and training, which is also investment. The law of supply and demand determining prices should also work

SDF: Also in your best selling book, Adventure Capitalist, you told us that Euro gonna fail, and US$ is not in a favorable position now, do you envision that a single currency worldwide gonna happen anytime soon? and if yes, ultimately United Nations gonna be a truly integrated nation just like United States as of today, would that be a dream or a fact-to-be?

JR: I think it won't happen in that way. Even the world economy collapse, or gold becomes the single currency in the world. Based on the history of civilization, whether Egypt, Greece, Mayans, or Rome, there was no single empire that could last that long, it just won't work

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