Jim Rogers, cofounder with George Soros of the Quantum Fund and author of the best-selling “Investment Biker,” which chronicled his investing-focused trek around the world by motorcycle, recently shared his views on global markets in a wide-ranging interview.

Since 2008 (when Rogers warned me that the stock market was going to crash), I have never heard him sound so ominous about U.S. stocks and global markets in general.

Read what Rogers has to say about U.S. markets. Then, read on for his views on gold, bonds, Greece, Japan, and China:

Sincere: So these are unusual times?

Rogers: What is happening right now is a historical anomaly. Never in the thousands of years of recorded history have we had interest rates at zero or negative. We are destroying the people who save and invest for the future. They are being wiped out at the expense of the people who bought four or five houses with no money down and no job. We are destroying the people that all societies throughout history have needed the most.

Greece’s Banks are its biggest weakness

When you destroy the investing and saving group, your society, economy, and country has problems. That is what we have been doing. Think of all those people who were saving for the future. They look like fools now, and feel like fools. Their friends who borrowed money are being saved at their expense.

Is the bond market in a bubble?

Whether it’s a bubble or not we will find out one day, but it probably is. For the stock market to go down, something has to happen, and it could happen if the bond market scares the socks off everyone. The previous bear market in bonds was from 1946 to 1981. Since 1981, the bond market has been in a bull market. When bonds start going lower, and rates go higher, rates will go much, much higher. Interest rates go to levels we cannot conceive right now. I cannot tell you how high interest rates could go but in 1981 U.S. government bonds were at 15%. Right now, there is inflation, but the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics say there is no inflation. I don’t know where they go to shop, or where they send their kids to school, or go to baseball games. There is inflation all over the world, not just in the U.S.

“ ‘The only thing that works is when people fail, go bankrupt, and start over.’ ”

Write this down for June 2015: This low interest rate environment will not continue forever. Bonds could go down for a long time, which will scare the bureaucrats in the central banks. This is why we might have a 10% to 13% decline in stocks.

What should the Fed do?

They should stop buying bonds. They should let interest rates and the market find its own level. It might mean some bankruptcies. In Scandinavia in the early 1990s, they had a problem. They let businesses go bankrupt, and there was terrible pain for a year or two, but Scandinavia reorganized and become one of the best parts of the world economy. On the other hand, Japan refused to let anyone go bankrupt, and they lost a decade or so because of artificial stimulation. It doesn’t work. It has never worked. The only thing that works is when people fail, go bankrupt, and start over.

What do you think of gold?

Gold US:GCQ5 is in a correction, and the correction has gone on for four years. Although I am not buying gold, I am expecting an opportunity to buy gold sometime in the next year or two. For instance, if gold goes under $1,000, I hope I’m smart enough to buy a lot more gold.

When I say under $1,000, it’s not that I know what I’m doing, it’s just that typically 50% corrections are normal. Before this is over, gold is going to end in a bubble. In the past, when there are collapses of confidence in government or currencies, people flee to gold. Part of the problem is that many people consider gold to be holy. They are mystical about it. Some mystics are surprised that gold goes down at all. When the next problem comes, people will lose confidence in the government, central banks, and paper money. That’s when gold goes up the most. That’s also when the central banks will do anything to save the day.

What are you buying right now?

I am buying China, Japan, and Russia, all of which are Asian markets.

One reason I am not buying the U.S. is because the U.S. is making all-time highs. I prefer not to buy things making all-time highs. Japan is down 50% from its high, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe said he will print unlimited amounts of money. He is doing things to make the market go up. He has also passed legislation to give tax incentives to invest in the stock market. He has persuaded the huge pension funds to buy more shares. Abe has done a lot of things that are good for stocks and the investment community.

I am not buying the currency USDJPY, +0.16% because he is running up huge debts and printing money, which is debasing the currency. In the short term, it’s good for investors. In the long term, it will ruin Japan. The population is declining, debt is going through the roof, and currencies are being destroyed. This is not good for Japan.

What about China?

China is the largest creditor nation and its stock market is 30% below its all-time high. The U.S. is the largest debtor nation in the history of the world and its stock market is at all-time highs.I don’t see a bubble in China yet, but if it keeps going up, it will turn into a bubble. Debt is building up in China internally that has never happened in decades. It will cause problems for them but it’s not at the tipping point yet. I hope there will be a significant correction so the market will return to a better level. It’s an incipient bubble.

“ ‘What is best for Greece is to declare bankruptcy, stay in the euro, and start over.’ ”

Normally, I would be selling at this stage but I hope my past experience helps me. Bubbles are so wonderful if you can time it right. I never have because I usually short it and it goes up more. This time I am standing with it because I don’t see a bubble yet. The signs are developing but it’s been going on a year now with lots of people joining. If I go to China and the receptionist talks about stocks, I will be worried. All of these are bad signs but it could go higher.

What about Greece?

Greece is a sideshow that could turn into the main show because politicians keep making mistakes. What is best for Greece is to declare bankruptcy, stay in the euro, and start over. They will never be able to pay their debts. We’ve had states, cities, and counties go bankrupt, and they didn’t leave the U.S. They reorganized and started over. You don’t have to leave just because you go bankrupt. If Greece went bankrupt but stayed in the euro EURUSD, -0.65% , we’d have a bit of a trauma but we’d move on. If they make Greece leave, it would turn into the main show.

Any final thoughts?

In 2008, we had a problem because debt was piled so high, but now the worldwide debt is much higher than it was then. In the U.S., the Fed’s balance sheet has gone up five or six times. Worldwide, all of these countries are talking about austerity, but they continue to run up higher and higher debt. Unfortunately, the world doesn’t have the luxury to lower interest rates much more. To pump up the stock market, all they can use is printed money. The next time around will be pretty horrible for all of us. I hope that you, your readers, and I survive.