As investors, we seem to live in a prelude of the “World of Absurdities” that Günter Reimann brilliantly defined in the last chapter of his 1939 The Vampire Economy?Doing Business under Fascism. Our task in deploying our savings is just as difficult as that of those who run the enterprises in which we invest.

We are beset with government interference, regulation, restrictions of all sorts, prohibitions, legal ambiguity, coercion, inflationism, fatalism and a general impairment in the disposition of our business plans. Perhaps the state has not as yet confiscated the means of production, but it has made our entrepreneurial endeavors quite absurd. In light of this, I have greater appreciation for those who run productive enterprises in which we have stakes.

By watching the actions and results of corporate managers over the last two years, I have gained new respect for the real entrepreneurs who are able to survive and prosper amid the impediments in our world of shackled capitalism.

One day, I will sell our gold and silver to invest the proceeds in their business endeavors.

But it will have to wait.

Anthony Deden