'I Expect a Currency Crisis or Semi-Crisis': Jim Rogers
Web Producer, CNBC.com
The worst of the economic crisis is not over and a currency crisis can happen this year or the next year, because the problem of too much debt in the system has not been solved, legendary investor Jim Rogers told CNBC Monday.
The current recovery is just a consequence of the fact that consumption fell so dramatically in 2008 and people have to buy things they need in 2009, Rogers told "Worldwide Exchange."
"How can the solution for debt and consumption be more debt and more consumption? How can that be the solution to our problems?," he said.
Video: Jim Rogers, CEO of Rogers Holdings, told CNBC Monday that when Lehman Brothers failed he thought “thank goodness they’re finally letting somebody collapse.”
"I would expect there to be a currency crisis or a semi-crisis this fall or next year. It's crony capitalism, Bernanke and Greenspan have brought crony capitalism to America … but that's not going to solve the world's problems," Rogers added.
There are still "gigantic amounts of horrible, horrible debt that hasn't been dealt with" in Central Europe, while hopes that China will pull the world out of recession are overblown, according to Rogers.
"China saved up a lot of money for a rainy day, it's raining and it's spending it," he said. "But China cannot pull out America or India or Europe from all this. Their economy is a 10th of the US. Hallelujah, let them do good things but they're not going to save the world."
The Federal Reserve has tripled its balance sheet and the US government's debt skyrocketed, which may cause currency problems next year, while protectionist tendencies have already started, he warned.
On Monday, China has requested World Trade Organization talks over US-imposed duties on Chinese-made tires, which China has branded protectionist.
"We're going to have some serious problems in currency markets, we're going to have serious problems in the world markets if we see protectionism rising and rising again," he said.