t h e   r i v e r s i d e   c o n v e r s a t i o n s

The Riverside Conversations (TRC): a series of smart conversations for television conceived by George Brugmans and hosted by the investor, author, traveler and commentator Jim Rogers. Each of the three episodes is 50 minutes long and concentrates, in depth, on an issue of global economic importance.
The three episodes were produced by AMAGO in co-production with the VPRO.

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TRC was shot on location in different cities of the world: New York in 2003, Rotterdam in 2004 and Tbilisi in 2005.

Whether in New York or elsewhere, the setting was basically this.

Three people have had lunch or dinner. They have been engrossed in a conversation which they now continue over coffee, or port and an occasional cigar. Their conversation is about, say, the long term consequences of the War in Iraq, of the great demographic changes in the near future, of the enlargement of the EU, or of the slow but steady rise of China and India.

All three participants are approaching the conversation from a global perspective; all three are able to connect the political with the economical, the past with the future, and today’s delusions with tomorrow’s likely realizations.

Jim Rogers, historian, philosopher and investor, is driving his two guests towards clear statements, towards explanations and predictions that may be complex but are still down-to-earth, clear cut, tangible, and even practical: clear statements that provide the ‘fourth guest in the room’, the viewer, with insights and instruments on which to build his or her own future behavior.

Marc Faber was a regular guest, the third guest was selected for each episode.

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TRC’s host, Jim Rogers, is the author of Investment Biker: On the Road with Jim Rogers (published by Random House), the result of his motorcycle ride of 104,710 km around the world. Rogers finished working on a second book, Adventure Capitalist, in May 2003. The book details the insights, adventure and observations from his second around-the-world voyage, this time by car: a 116-country, 152,000-mile trip during the three years of the turn of the Millennium – 1999-2001. A third book, Hot Commodities: How Anyone Can Invest Profitably In The World’s Best Market was published in 2004. In 2007 Roger's latest book, A Bull in China, was published.

An entertaining speaker, he mixes wit with sometimes contrarian wisdom that offers new and enlightened ways to view our world.
Rogers went to Yale and Oxford, where he attended Balliol College and studied politics, philosophy, and economics. It was during the summer of 1964 that Rogers fell in love with Wall Street. After his learning years he co-founded the Quantum Fund, a global-investment partnership. During the next 10 years, the portfolio gained more than 4000%, while the S&P rose less than 50%. Rogers then decided to retire – at age 37. As a private investor, he now constantly analyzes the countries through which he travels for investment ideas. He gets to the heart of what’s driving successful nations and economies upward and what’s slashing troubled ones downward.

Rogers is that rare exception to the rule: an investor who has actually been where he puts his money, who has proven he can be successful over a longer period of time and who therefore knows best about what nobody really knows anything about: the future.

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Marc Faber was born in Zurich, Switzerland. Since 1973, he has lived in Hong Kong. From 1978 to February 1990, he was the Managing Director of Drexel Burnham Lambert (HK) Ltd. In June 1990, he set up his own business, MARC FABER LIMITED which acts as an investment advisor, fund manager and broker/dealer.
Dr. Faber publishes a widely read monthly investment newsletter, The Gloom Boom & Doom Report, which highlights unusual investment opportunities, and is the author of several books including Tomorrow’s Gold: Asia’s Age of Discovery. A regular speaker at various investment seminars, Dr Faber is well known for his "contrarian" investment approach. He is also associated with a variety of funds and is a member of the Board of Directors of numerous companies.

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