Famed Investor Jim Rogers: 'Brexit Was Nothing Compared to What's Coming

As dire as things currently look around the world, noted investor and author Jim Rogers is warning that things are going to get a lot worse in the coming years.

American investor and financial commentator Jim Rogers speaks during the China Hi-Tech Forum 2011 at Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center on November 17, 2011 in Shenzhen, China. The six-day China Hi-Tech Forum 2011 opened on Wednesday. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)

In a column posted on The Daily Reckoning, Rogers painted a scary picture of the current state of the European Union, recalling recent terror attacks, cop killings, Britain leaving the EU and the Deutsche Bank nearly collapsing. But that’s “nothing compared to what’s coming,” according to Rogers.

“But over the next couple of years, it’s going to get a whole lot worse,” he wrote. “As economies worsen, there will be more social unrest, more angry people, and crazier politicians. Somebody will try to come along on a white horse to save us all, but she usually makes it worse.”

The investing titan said there are “a lot of similarities between the 1920s and ‘30s” when communism and fascism surged around the world. Today, many of the same issues are emerging once again, he added.

People queue to buy basic food and household items outside a supermarket in the poor neighbourhood of Lidice, in Caracas, Venezuela, on May 31, 2016. (Photo: RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP/Getty Images)

More from Rogers’ column:

Brexit could be a triggering moment. This is another step in an ongoing deterioration of events. It’s also an important turning point because it now means the central banks are going to print even more money. That may prop the markets up in the short term.

We have a strange economy. Markets look like they’re fine. But underneath the surface, most stocks are not doing well. Most stocks around the world are down. Most stocks in the United States are down. In 2015, when the market averages were flat, twice as many stocks were down on the New York stock exchange as were up. And in the last nine months, earnings are down in the United States. A recession is starting, it is already in place. But if you look at the averages and the bond market, they still go up.

[…]

I’m very worried because what we’re facing now can get worse than anything most of us have seen in our lifetimes. The world may be overdue for a crisis of that magnitude. Throughout history, we’ve had periods of severe crisis. I don’t mean 1968 or 2008, for instance. I mean a serious crisis with widespread bankruptcies, massive unemployment, the emergence of dictators, and war.

Societies around the world are already falling apart, or nearly so. Look at all the recent terrorist attacks and mass shooting incidents in America and Europe. And look at what’s happening in Venezuela right now. People are literally starving. Even the most basic necessities of life are impossible to find in stores. Hundreds of thousands of people are trying to get into Colombia to buy food.

Government only makes the problems worse because they don't know what they are doing, according to Rogers.

Rogers left his readers with some not-so-optimistic advice: "Learn history" and "be prepared."

"If you’re prepared, you will be one of those who survives whatever happens," he added. "Because what’s coming is going to be a mess."

Read Rogers' full column here.

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