“When people say, ‘Oh, America is a young country,’ well, yeah, we’re a young country. 250 years, that’s not too bad. Now the question is, can we make it another 250? Can we make it another 25? I mean, can we make it another two and a half months? Let’s figure this out…”
~ Byron King, geologist, investor, co-editor Strategic Intelligence
Joel Bowman with today’s Discourse from the End of the World: Buenos Aires, Argentina – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania…
In a former life, a younger version of your editor found himself seated at a grand boardroom table in an old mansion in Mount Vernon, Baltimore.
The building, itself an historic landmark, was once the residence of Theodore Marburg Sr., the United States Minister to Belgium between 1912-1914, who famously advocated for America’s involvement in that so-called Great War on the side of the allies. (He had, himself, witnessed Germany’s invasion of Belgium in August of 1914, which violated Belgium’s neutrality treaty.)
Looking around the room… with the oak panels… the grand chandelier… the ornate crown moulding… the oil paintings, peering down from such great heights…. we imagined the kinds of conversations that had taken place inside these hallowed halls.
It was all very… imposing.
Around the table on this particular afternoon, ninety odd years after the War to End All Wars did nothing of the kind, was seated a cast of international investors, renowned geopolitical experts, best-selling authors, industry insiders and other, equally impressive individuals. And, as has been mentioned, yours truly.
Had we wandered into the wrong room, we hear our dear readers ask? Were we – dare we divulge… all these years later – uninvited?
Perhaps. And… perhaps.
But the important thing is, we were there… and we were fortunate enough to meet a good many individuals who would, over the coming years, help us along our merry way.
Fire in the Hole
One of the gentlemen in attendance that day was Byron King. A geologist by training, having graduated from Harvard back when it was still… well, that Harvard, Byron also served as a flight officer for the U.S. Navy where, at one point, he was an aide to the United States Chief of Naval Operations. He’s also a lawyer, a much respected resource investor and a market commentator featured on all the media outlets that matter… including these humble Notes From the End of the World.
Today, Byron contributes to Jim Rickard’s newsletter, Strategic Intelligence, and is a frequent essayist for our old alma maters, The Rude Awakening and The Daily Reckoning, both of which we managed for several years. (Find our more about Byron’s work by visiting Paradigm Press.)
After the meeting was over, we shared a drink with Byron and got to talking about the history of oil exploration and production in the USA… a subject about which Byron knew everything we didn’t (which is to say, everything worth knowing). A few weeks later, making good on an invitation he extended our way, the two of us were at an oilfield in Titusville, Pennsylvania, watching a man drop an explosive charge (called a “torpedo”) down a wellbore, a kind of precursor to the fracking revolution that would come a few years later… and change America’s role as the world’s single largest energy producer.
All is to say, we are always grateful when Byron takes the time to lend us his insights, as he was kind enough to do just last week. Over an unhurried hour or so, he shared his thoughts on Gold $4k, the future of America’s energy dominance, the populism of Andrew Jackson, and what one talks about when one finds themselves, as Byron recently did, seated at a dinner table next to the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr.
Needless to say, we were all ears…
Please enjoy our conversation with Byron King and, if you have not already done so, feel free to support our work by becoming a Notes member, today.
Until next time…
Cheers,
Joel Bowman
