Faber: ‘Financial’ Police States Rule in Western Nations

Wednesday, 20 Jul 2011 08:51 AM
By Julie Crawshaw

Economist Marc Faber, publisher of The Gloom, Boom and Doom report, says Western nations have become financial police states.

"I grew up in the 1950s and '60s … when people were more free," Faber tells the UK Market Oracle. "Now, we have police states in the West, where restrictions are rather onerous."

"Also, back in the '50s and '60s, the Bretton Woods System restricted the potential for severe inflation."

Faber says the standard of living for the average US household has gone down over the past 20 years — and, relative to the rest of the world, the peak of U.S. prosperity occurred in the 1950s.

Though Faber believes there will be continued inflation, he says that deflation isn’t any better because, with deflation, the fiscal deficit would deteriorate greatly.

“If you are actually optimistic about the economy, just consider: If the Dow went below 1000, what kind of economic environment would we be in?â€