QE

The end of an empire is a dramatic but also drawn out event with very few willing to face the facts. As the end is getting closer, denial is at its peak. We can probably figure out how it will end but not quite when. Looking at the facts, the beginning of the end is here.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Ray Dalio, Jeffery Gundlach and Nouriel Roubini all share pessimistic views. Let’s examine together the basic economic reasons for their thinking.

Many emerging markets are now turning to submerging markets as country after country is experiencing falling economies, currencies and stock markets.

The world is less well equipped to manage a major financial crisis today than it was a decade ago, according to Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a former chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

In spite of not normally looking back, I have had a look at a Newsletter that I wrote in July 2009 when gold was just over $900 and the Dow 9,100. It was called “The Dark Years are here” and received quite a lot of attention at the time. This was at the end of the sub-prime crisis when the Dow had just declined by 60% and gold had risen from $250 in 1999 to $925.

Owning physical gold for wealth protection purposes is the best preserved secret in the West. In this part of the world, virtually nobody holds gold. At the same time, the wise people in the East continue to buy all the gold that is produced annually. China, India, Iran, Turkey, Russia and many more Eastern nations understand history and economics. That is why they are accumulating major gold reserves at these levels.

Financial and precious metals expert Egon von Greyerz is sounding the alarm about record breaking global risk and warns, “With this risk, people have to take insurance."

It is absolutely unreal how the world pays so much respect to mediocrity or even incompetence when it comes to running the financial system. Central banks and their heads have created this monster balloon which is now waiting to be popped.

This is the story about Debtor, a newborn American baby. Debtor has just been born into the greatest economy in the world, a land full of promises and opportunities. This is what his parents tell him. But unbeknown to Debtor, he has been given a very bad start in life. Because the parents haven’t told Debtor, and how could they since they are not aware themselves, that he starts life with a massive debt burden that will grow manifold during his lifetime.

I think it would be interesting to look in the rear-view mirror to get an overview of the performance we can expect in large asset classes available to the French savers – and gold in particular.