Brent Johnson, the CEO of Puerto Rico-based wealth management firm Santiago Capital and the creator of the Dollar Milkshake Theory, joins Julia on episode 22. 

Brent’s view is that we’re heading for a currency crisis. The Dollar Milkshake Theory is a framework Brent developed to explain how a sovereign debt and currency crisis might play out. He explained how the world was flooded with liquidity thanks to extraordinary monetary policies following the Global Financial Crisis. The Dollar Milkshake is a simplified way to demonstrate how capital — all of the liquidity that makes up the “milkshake” — would flee the rest of the world and get sucked up by the U.S. Dollar (the straw) and U.S.-based markets creating a myriad of problems globally.  

During this conversation, Brent explains his Dollar Milkshake Theory, where he thinks we are within that framework, and why the U.S. Dollar’s explosion to the upside could cause problems to pop up worldwide. Elsewhere, Brent discussed how to navigate a currency crisis, the case for investing in gold, why everyone should have cash, and his concerns about bitcoin. 

0:00 Intro/background

1:25 Macro views, focus on currencies 

2:41 Explanation of the Dollar Milkshake Theory  

6:39 Where are we in the Dollar Milkshake framework? 

10:26 What could be the endgame? 

13:16 Why should individuals care about the implications of currencies?

19:39 How currency problems will create contagion 

26:37 Weaponization of the Dollar 

33:17 Views on The Fed 

37:55 How to navigate a currency crisis 

41:29 Investing in gold 

43:52 Advice for CEOs and companies navigating currency headwinds 

45:28 Everybody should have cash 

47:42 A complicated relationship with Bitcoin 

50:00 What a new monetary system could look like

53:41 The Dollar Milkshake Theory doesn’t have a happy ending… 

56:23 Think for yourself but think about what’s going to happen