The Dr. Richebächer Legacy
The Genius We Honor | by Addison Wiggin
“Americans,” Dr. Kurt Richebächer once told me, “must not love their children. Not with the way they squander their future.”
Blunt assessments like that earned Dr. Richebacher a lot of fans… and quite a few enemies. But in his 88 years, he never wavered from his convictions.
Maybe it was his background… a pre-war child in Europe, a post-war top financial journalist in Germany, a London-educated economist and managing director of the Dresdner Bank.
Or maybe it was the clients — some of the richest families and top financial minds sought his insights.
Either way, Kurt never pulled punches. Even Helmut Schmidt, the German Chancellor, once tried to silence him — and almost did, when Kurt’s top ally at the Dresdner was kidnapped and murdered.
It was then that the famous Richebächer Letter was born.
A Legacy of Correct Predictions
Each month, Dr. Richebächer dove into the endless stream of government data and statistics — uncovering truths Wall Street had missed. He based his approach on Austrian economic models… adapting the work of some of history’s best financial minds. His influences included people like J. M. Keynes, Friedrich von Hayek, Irving Fisher, Hy Minskey and Ludwig von Mises.
With that crystal-clear perspective, he followed the numbers to their inevitable destination… and in the process, predicted some of the worst financial disasters long before they hit home:
• In September 1996, Kurt warned that the Asian Tigers “were teetering on the edge of a cliff.” And in March 1997, he alerted his readers that these countries were about to face “tremendous currency turmoil.” By July 1997, those currencies fell like dominoes… and French national newspaper Le Figaro began calling Dr. Richebächer “the man who predicted the Asian crisis”
• In July 1998 he saw debt spiraling out of control in Brazil and warned that the country’s currency was in serious jeopardy. By early 1999, the Brazilian real crashed to the ground
• In January 2000, Kurt predicted that the dot-com stocks’ days were numbered. “Next Christmas,” he wrote “very many of them will no longer be around.” Three months later, the Internet bubble popped and tech companies declared bankruptcy in droves.
• In November 2006, he said, “The housing bubble… has barely started. Wealth effects have disappeared, and with falling house prices… will turn substantially negative.” Before long, the bubble popped and loan-backed derivatives crushed Wall Street and choked off credit, consumer confidence — and spending — slammed into a wall.
With those successful predictions came a lot of attention and praise. In fact, Kurt’s list of personal friends read like a list of the 20th century’s greatest financial minds… Murray Rothbard, Paul Volker, New York economists John Exter and Henry Kaufman, Richard Russell, Martin Weiss, Doug Casey, William Bonner…
And of course, I was lucky enough to also become his friend.
We worked together on a book. But he wouldn’t live to finish it. The world lost Dr. Richebächer in August 2007.
It is very sad — and perhaps a little ironic — that he died just as his most dire warnings were coming true. He spent his life advocating sound economic policies… the kind that most of the world ignored… and much of the reason why we’re in this mess. His voice was silenced just when we needed it most.
That’s why we decided to continue his legacy with the Richebächer Society. Our goal is to honor his memory by building on his research… spreading his message… identifying true investment opportunities… and advocating proven economic models in public and private life.
And as we grow, we hope that we can prove Dr. Richebächer wrong on one important point: that we do love our children, and we’re dedicated to protecting their future.
