I am sitting on the terrace of the Bulldog Pub and sipping my drink when an American couple sits right next to me. “Hey,” he leans over and points at my dark beer, “how do you call that?” “Tomislav,” I lean toward him in turn, “the first Croatian king!” A lively conversation follows. When I pull out a cigar, he is interested once again: “Where can I get a good one?” I give him directions to several stores as we all sip the same drink. Soon enough, we turn to economic affairs in both America and Europe. As it turns out, they share my outlook. Neither of them is too optimistic about the prospects we collectively face. Both America and Europe are in for a nasty ride. At some point we turn toward the best investment one can make in this mess. “Land,” he pronounces, but I shake my head incredulously. “Look,” I lower my voice conspiratorially, “this is what led us to the last boom and bust.” Both of them agree without much hesitation. “Alcohol and tobacco,” I offer at some point, and both of them laugh. The best investments, indeed. And that is how we part our ways, armed with doomsday economics. “Alcohol and tobacco,” we wave across tables with big grins on our faces.