Hello from Viña del Mar, Chile!

I've been on somewhat of a whirlwind tour from all corners of the Dominican Republic to Panama City, Santiago, our unbelievably incredible expat community land, to be named Galt's Gulch Chile in Curacavi and now in the beautiful seaside resort of Viña del Mar for the weekend.

Most of my stops had interesting information and encounters so allow me to break out the slides and let's gather in the basement so I can show you all my "vacation" photos.

Dominican republic

I filled you in somewhat last week from Las Terrenes in the DR where I spent some time with the TDV Group concierge for that area, Terry. I then drove about an hour to Cabrera where I met up with TDV Group concierge for that region, Barry.

Both are doing some absolutely fabulous developments. Terry who is a natural medicine practioner lives literally in the middle of the rain forest and is developing an expat community with a focus on natural organic foods and medicine.

Barry, also, is creating a very large expat community in Cabrera. He is really doing it right. He has a long list of more than 100 expats and dollar vigilantes who will be coming to visit him in the next 6 months. He offers a complete service where he shows you the entire region and lets you know of properties and lots that are available should you wish to expatriate there. He held a barbeque for myself, my wife and numerous visiting expats at one of the houses he helped build. I can assure you that if you go there you will not be disappointed and will likely walk away with a lot of new friends.

Both Terry and Barry will be writing regularly in the TDV newsletter over the coming months with much more detailed information on their experiences expatriating to the Dominican Republic and how they can help you do the same. As well, both host their own TDV Group on the TDV Forums (for subscriber's only).

Chile

After a short diversion in Panama City I then moved on to Santiago, Chile. I was here a few months ago and couldn't believe the changes in the last few years here. This time around did nothing to change that impression. In fact, it is only more validated. I truly cannot believe how much this region has developed! If you like modernity, a blazing economy, high technology, civilization and cleanliness, then Chile has to be your #1 choice in all of Latin America. I can only think of a few countries that can beat or exceed Chile on any of those criteria. Singapore can beat it on the economy, but not by much. And there are places like Austria or Switzerland that beat Chile on cleanliness and civilization, but not by much. Hong Kong beats Chile on high tech, but not by much.

Simply put, if I had to choose to live in a country based on the above criteria, I think my choice would have to be Chile. I don't even think that, I know that. I've been nothing but amazed at all the world class infrastructure, cranes dotting Santiago, how Viña del Mar has become an incredibly upscale, luxurious and classy beachside resort and how everything has changed since the majority of the people in this region (the few pathetic communist students who call themselves anarchists and who want "free education" aside) have embraced capitalism. That is so much the beauty of free markets... it can transform a region in a matter of months or years. Skyscrapers are sprouting up like shoots in an incredibly fertile garden. South America's largest building, Gran Torre Santiago, part of South America's most luxurious and largest shopping mall complex, is currently under construction amidst dozens of skyscrapers, all built of the most modern glass and metal style and structure.

If you've heard about a very indicative and instructive "Skyscraper Index", first put forth by Andrew Lawrence in 1999, then you might see that as a sign of coming economic collapse. The index has noted that Keynesian based central bank money printing often foments a boom that soon collapses as the counterfeiting caused distortions in the economy eventually show themselves for the anti-productive activities they engender. For this reason, buildings like the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the world's tallest skyscraper was an indicator of coming collapse. Not so in Chile. Why? Because the central bank here is one step improved from the Keynesian central banks that dot this planet like a skin disease. While I am no friend to any central bank, the Chilean central bank is well down on my hate list of central banks because they are followers of Milton Friedman's monetarist concepts.

Monetarism is a school in economic thought that emphasizes the role of governments in controlling the amount of money in circulation. It is the view within monetary economics that variation in the money supply has major influences on national output in the short run and the price level over longer periods and that objectives of monetary policy are best met by targeting the growth rate of the money supply.

While no great thing - anything that promotes monetary inflation is despicable and wrongheaded - it is actually much better than the neo-Keynesian model of just printing up enough money until everyone is rich with poverty. Under the monetarist concepts, they actually announce the exact amount of inflation on a daily basis in Chile and all businesses adjust their prices regularly to it. It's called the Unidad de Fomento (unit of account) and while it is a stupid, inflation-based theory, it is actually much better than what the slaves in the US know under the policies of the Federal Reserve. For this reason, inflation is actually immediately adjusted to in the economy rather than the Keynesian guessing game of guessing what the market wants and then making tons of stupid mistakes because it is impossible to know whether money is semi-real or not (hello tech bust, housing bust).

Because of this, and other fairly free market policies, the economy here is booming, but not falsely through inflation. I haven't seen anything like it in many years... if ever! If you want to make money and participate in a fairly free market, go to Chile!

Galt's Gulch, Chile

I'm actually a little in shock. My business partner, Ken Johnson, who has created and managed our passport programs, offshore banking and incorporation products and who has been the driving force behind Galt's Gulch Chile has amazed me. I dispatched him nearly a year ago with one initiative - find a place that libertarians, anarchists and other freedom-loving people can go that met about 20 different criteria. Price, distance from major population centers (but close enough to still have a lot of fun), a self-sustaining capability (all the water, power and organic food and wine to live off for as long as it takes through the Great Transition) and many more. I had been searching for nearly a year before I met Ken in the backseat of a police cruiser in Palm Springs, arrested for walking down the street and looking drunk (we were, as anyone who knows us is not surprised to hear - but apparently that is now illegal in the USSA) and he finally found it about 4 months ago.

While I had visited the area, it was very quickly and I didn't get to take in the full beauty of it all. And, because we had no deal on the land, I didn't give it too much thought. On this recent trip to Santiago we have basically closed the acquisition and so I devoted more time to looking at exactly what we had just purchased. I literally stood in awe at the top of an entire valley at the end of a mountain range, just the other side of Santiago proper... a place that you'd never know if you were 5,000 miles from civilization. But, in fact, you are 45 minutes from Santiago's international airport with direct flights from North America, Asia and Europe. You are also less than an hour from the unbelievably prospering and future city of the world, Santiago. And, as I write this, I sit in Viña del Mar, one of the top 10 luxury, oceanside resort cities, less than an hour from Galt's Gulch.

For those that don't know, Santiago is about 1.5 hours from the ocean, and Viña del Mar. Half way in between these two amazing places is Galt's Gulch, but you'd never know you weren't a world away from either. It is exactly what I had been looking and hoping for, and Ken Johnson found it and made it happen. I am beyond thrilled and can't wait to bring it into your life. Ayn Rand had a dream. And, 45 years after, we made it happen. The fact that Atlas Shrugged Part II is in theatres right now only adds to the beauty. Imagine living in literal paradise - and to that I can attest - within arm's reach of one of the best economies now and into the foreseeable future, surrounded by freedom-loving individuals? Imagine living in a natural paradise on a street called "Ron Paul Way" or "Anarchist Avenue".

I'm building this. We are building this. We hope to see you there soon! You won't believe your eyes. It'll be, by a massive amount, the cheapest (but without cutting any corners!) AND the best expat community on Earth. I promise you that. First details will, as always, be brought to TDV subscribers first and lot pre-sales will open in the coming weeks. If you'd like more info, join our mailing list here. It may take us some time to get back to you as the amount of interest has been absolutely overwhelming. Thank you!

Until next time, from somewhere in the world, let the bad things in this world roll off your back and invite the good. Life's too short.