Microchips embedded in the arms of citizens to track their activities, the
total destruction of the middle classes and a cashless economy where an
authoritarian state can freeze the accounts of dissenting citizens excluding
them from all economic activity….. These are all part of the cheery scenario
painted by the highly respected author and IMF-insider with connections to
the Pentagon, Jim Rickards in his most recent article for Agora
Financial.
"In the year 2024" as the article is called, capitalism and markets
will have been abolished in favour of a marxist dystopia managed by the
"New World Order." The savings and assets of the middle classes
will have been annihilated. This unfolds through a series of panics and
shocks to the markets and hyper-inflation. As the hyperinflation takes hold
there is a mass exodus out of paper currency and into gold. The G-20 arrange
for the mass confiscation of gold, to be stored in an enormous vault in the
Swiss Alps, in order to force the public back onto newly created digital
currency. To ensure that the public cannot protect themselves from the
profligacy of governments gold is taken out of circulation forever.
He references Naomi Klein's Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster
Capitalism when explaining "how power elites such as central bankers,
finance ministers and the ultra-rich work behind the scenes" to
achieve this Orwellian vision.
"Shock doctrine is simple. Political leaders use crises to ramrod
policies into place no one would accept in normal times." Using this
model the elites simply wait for the next crisis to unfold and then use the
fear and confusion ("people begin to value order over liberty") as
cover for implementing anti-democratic agendas.
Rickards cites the USA Patriot Act which was passed by congress following
the 9-11 attacks. In that highly charged atmosphere, reams of legislation -
which had obviously been drafted before the attacks just waiting for the
appropriate crisis - were rushed through congress. Privacy in the face of the
state is now a thing of the past in the U.S. The private communication of all
citizens are collected and stored on a database to be monitored at will by
intelligence agencies who are not accountable to the public in any real way.
While we have more faith in humanity than Mr. Rickards, it is clear that
the scenario he describes is not beyond possibility. The U.S. enjoyed the
status of sole superpower for more than fifteen years after the fall of the
Soviet Union. Naturally, it has attracted that element of humanity who crave
power and control above all else. The Germans - arguably among the most
sophisticated people in the world at the dawn of the twentieth century -
still succumbed, following a series of crises, to a devious, vindictive,
militaristic dictatorship by the 1930's.
On the flip side of that coin, average people have never had such ease of
access to the information they want. So now, more than ever before in
history, we can make informed choices. So the political outcome of the
monetary crisis facing the world today is far from certain.
We find Rickards' description of how the current crisis facing the Central
Banking establishment (damned if they do, damned if they don't) will unfold
is more plausible. He takes the line that QE will be pursued until the system
crashes, referencing QE-7 in 2018. When the public finally lose faith in
paper money it will cause savers to gush out of paper currencies and into
gold, silver, agricultural land and fine art. However, he warns that - before
inflation takes hold on the wider economy - these safe havens will already
have been bid up to extraordinarily high prices and will therefore be
unattainable to those people wishing to protect their wealth from
hyperinflation.
We do not believe Rickard's prognostications for a "New World
Order" will come to pass. "How would that happen? The G-20 meetings
struggle to agree on a final communique. How could they agree something like
that?" asks Arabian Money in their review of Rickards' article.
We do see potential for a major crisis in the financial and monetary system
along the lines that Rickards describes. And with this in mind we emphasise
once again the prudence of storing gold and
silver in fully segregated and fully allocated accounts in ultra-secure
vaults in the safest jurisdictions in the world.
Get Breaking News and Updates on the Gold Market Here
GOLDCORE MARKET UPDATE
Today’s AM fix was USD 1,240.50, EUR 979.94 and GBP 775.31 per
ounce.
Yesterday’s AM fix was USD 1,246.75, EUR 982.08 and GBP 777.66 per ounce.
Gold fell $6.80 or 0.54% to $1,241.50 per ounce and silver slid $0.36 or
2.06% to $17.15 per ounce yesterday.
Gold
in Singapore rose 0.3% to $1,244.72 an ounce and traded at $1,243.43 at
2:35 p.m, Bloomberg pricing shows. Prices fell 0.6% yesterday, their largest
fall since October 3rd.
Gold
in Swiss storage or for immediate delivery climbed 2.9% this month on the
heels of equities losses, after the U.S. Fed said slowing foreign economies
were a risk to U.S. growth and the International Monetary Fund cut its growth
outlook.
In London, the yellow metal pulled back as a positive surprise in eurozone
business activity data lifted stock markets from early lows, while the dollar
index remained near its highest in a week. Spot gold was down 0.1% at
$1,239.50 an ounce at 0936 GMT, while U.S. gold futures for December delivery
were off $5.60 an ounce at $1,239.90.
Gold increased after its biggest loss in over two weeks as the festival
and wedding season in India saw purchases of gold coins, bars
and especially jewellery. Silver and platinum gained.
See Essential Guide to Storing
Gold In Switzerlandhere
