by Mark Skousen, Investment U Research
Thursday, March 15, 2012: Issue #1730

Over the weekend, I spent some time one-on-one with conservative talk show host Glenn Beck at a private meeting at Mar de Lago – Donald Trump’s Florida retreat. My friend Dan Mangru invited a group of friends to meet Beck and talk about his new non-profit organization Mercury One.
Glenn is still doing well with his nationwide radio program and his new for-pay television show. He wears glasses all the time now, due to his suffering from macular dystrophy, but his wife told me that his condition has stabilized for now.
What’s Glenn’s outlook for the economy? For all the years I’ve known him (appearing on his show twice), he’s what we call a “permabear.” He remains quite pessimistic about the direction this country and the world is headed. His greatest fear is big government…