Doug Casey on meme stock madness and Weimar hyperinflation

Q: Many meme stock gamblers are younger people who are heavily in debt and have poor job prospects.  They feel that getting lucky in the stock market casino is the only way to get ahead. 

What’s your take? 

Doug Casey: Perhaps we’re approaching the stage of what happened in Germany in the early ’20s when the average German couldn’t get ahead by working.  Since the currency was losing value so rapidly, it made no sense to save.  It barely made sense to work.  To stay ahead of the collapse of the currency, everyone tried to get lucky with scams and schemes they didn’t really understand.  This led to instability in society and the degeneration of norms and morals.  Many looked for radical political solutions, with the Communists or the National Socialists.

That seems similar to what’s happening today in the US. Its financial aspect is facilitated by the fact that anyone can open an account with Robinhood, and everybody has an iPhone.  Therefore, everybody can buy and sell stocks and options.  But only a tiny, tiny portion of these people have any real understanding of the stock market, securities analysis, money, or economics.

I’d say it’s an indication that the economy and the markets are on the edge of a precipice when the modern-day equivalent of shoeshine boys think that they actually know what they’re doing.

~ Doug Casey, "Meme Stock Mania and Impending Financial Disaster," LewRockwell.com, May 30, 2024