I’m going out on a bit of a limb here to highlight some financial stuff and economic signs that aren’t being covered in the news, but I think it’s necessary. As I bring this stuff up with people in my circles, they are unaware. These things are happening around us, and many people are going to be caught off guard.
The Economic Signs
Last year, I read one of Jim Rickards’ books called the Death of Money. Jim is a former financial analyst for the CIA along with many other qualifications. While Jim included quite a bit of useful information, there were a couple of things that really stood out to me.
Jim highlighted that America came off the gold standard in the early 1970s. That is when our money ceased to backed by gold or any “asset.” However, Jim also highlighted that Russia and China have been working to accumulate gold. I’ll speak more on this later.
In the early 1970s, the US dollar was setup to be the “World Reserve Currency” by an agreement with OPEC to price oil in USD. That has helped to cement the United States as the world power that it is. It is what has allowed America to impose sanctions to such “wayward nations” as we saw fit…mainly to strong arm America’s or the western countries enemies.
Since the Bush administration and more specifically during the Obama administration, have accumulated mountains of debt. In additions to this debt, the US Government and Federal reserve have printed trillions of dollars. This has served to greatly destabilize the value of the USD. Interestingly enough, we have not fully seen the repercussions of this yet which will be mass inflation.
The Death of Money was published in 2014; I read it in 2017. In the book, Jim made several projections which are now coming true.
Russia and China are accumulating gold for the purpose of challenging the USD as the world reserve currency. Without adding too much detail, it is estimated that the top four gold holding entities are 1) the European Union with 8,500 tons, 2) the US with 6,500 tons, 3) China reported 4,500 tons (estimated to be much more), and 4) Russia with 1,500 tons.
China along with Russia would provide an alternative for international trade by allowing oil to be traded with the Yuan, now a gold backed currency.
Normally, projections like this get forgotten over time, however, both of these projections have now come true. In early 2018, China opened oil trading based on the Yuan (Bloomberg.com) thus challenging the Petro Dollar as the only world reserve currency. Iran, Venezuela and other countries are beginning to use the Yuan for international commerce as well. Other news sources covered it as well, RT.com
Cementing the challenge to the US Petro Dollar, Russia is in talks with Saudi Arabia about production agreements that could last 10-20 years. Reuters.com Now this may actually be a good thing as oil and gas prices would stabilize over longer periods of time allowing the world economy to experience less volatility on several levels.
The other big piece of information I have for you is a series of articles related to JP Morgan Chase Bank. In 2011, JP Morgan Chase began acquiring silver. Lots of it. On the books, they’ve acquired 150+million ounces of silver. Unknown, it’s estimated they may have acquired as many as 500 million ounces of silver. By the numbers, that’s about 5,000 tons and $2.5 billion in silver or it could be 15,600 tons and $8.2 billion.
So now you have Russia, China, and JP Morgan Chase all acquiring huge amounts of precious metals (silver and gold) beginning around 2009. You have to ask, “who else might be acquiring large amounts of precious metals? Why?
In reading Jim Rickards’ book about the coming economic collapse and the death of money, he made projections that have now come true, and now we see JP Morgan Chase following one of Jim’s recommendations to protect wealth. Coincidence? I don’t think so.
Okay. So What Now?
So what should we do? I wish I had all the right answers, but I don’t. What I can do though is continue to learn and prepare as best I can.
I’ve recently purchased Jim’s latest book, Road to Ruin and I’m eager to see what other nuggets he has for me.
Don’t hold too much cash. Inflation causes your cash to lose value. During hyper inflations cycles, it loses value fast.
Buy some silver. How To.
Buy some gold. How To.
Stick with solid financial principles. Pay off your debts. Don’t waste your money.
Don’t be too heavy in stocks. Economic turmoil could cut the stock market by 1/3 to 1/2. Diversify your wealth to protect yourself.
Historically, I’m not a silver or gold buyer, but now I am. Gold and silver have not been great investments when compared to the S&P, real estate or other investment options. However, during an economic upheaval, you’re not looking for investment returns. You are looking for financial stability and protection. Gold and silver have been present in the global financial system for over 3,000 years. The USD has existed for a little over 200 years which exceeds the lifespan of typical fiat currencies which is about 27 years.