Jim Rogers: European Bailouts May Lead to Another World War

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A continuation of bailouts in Europe could ultimately spark another world war, says international investor Jim Rogers.

As an alternative, he recommends a combination of capitalism and socialism to weed out weak European banks and companies and to support the strong.

“This is how we got into World War II,” Rogers tells Yahoo, referring to Europe’s handling of its financial crisis.

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“Add debt, the situation gets worse, and eventually it just collapses. Then everybody is looking for scapegoats. Politicians blame foreigners, and we’re in World War II or World War whatever.”

The Rogers solution: “Let the people who have failed, go bankrupt,” he says. “The banks and bondholders would lose money, but then you start over.”

That’s classic capitalism, Rogers says. “Bailing out zombie companies and banks has never worked. Look at Japan."

But free markets alone can’t solve the problem, Rogers says. Governments must help choose the winners and losers – and quickly.

“If you wait two years from now, five years from now, when no government has any credibility and nobody will give you any more money, then it's finished. You better get yourself a rifle and head to Asia."

But the prospect for Europe doing more than kicking the can down the road now looks bleak.

Countries in the eurozone are split, with creditors like Germany continuing to focus on the need for austerity, while borrowers seek more assistance and want to focus on growth.

Rogers isn't alone in predicting such a dire scenario.

Bailouts and loose monetary policy won't create lasting economic improvements but will push up inflation rates that will send the economy tanking and wealthy investors seeing half of their investments wiped out, says Marc Faber, publisher of the Gloom, Boom and Doom report.

The Federal Reserve has pumped trillions of dollars into the economy to stimulate it, while the White House has spent heavily to fuel growth as well.

The government, however, won't be able to prop up the economy forever, and all that borrowing will come due. When that support fades, the economy and markets will retreat and retreat hard, creating massive losses for investors, especially when inflation rates rise due to the sheer volumes of liquidity in the system.

"I think somewhere down the line we will have a massive wealth destruction. That usually happens either through very high inflation or through social unrest or through war or credit-market collapse," Faber recently told CNBC.

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