Without the production of goods and services to create profit, there would be nothing to bank. Banks only existed to keep money safe. Then the idea of fractional reserve banking allowed them to lend more than they had, leveraging for profit. When they went too far, they went bankrupt, so they operated prudently. They have morphed into monsters and we have become their victims. A nation should be in control of their banks, not at the mercy of them. Why we have given them this power over the world is insane.

I think it’s great advice to educate yourself thoroughly in whatever asset class you wish to invest. If the stock market crashes this year, it will not be the only asset class to decline in price. If there are enough margin calls, other assets will be liquidated. As far as debt goes, there’s two types……self-liquidating debt (you buy a factory and produce a product and sell the production and pay off the debt rapidly) and non-self-liquidating debt (you borrow to go on vacation or buy a new car). The first is productive and the second makes you a debt slave. Popular investment thesis rests upon normal markets and continuing inflation, there are no guarantees this will continue.