Price inflation has been even worse than advertised.
Of course, you know that because you’ve lived it. But it is nice when the data crunchers swerve a little closer to reality.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis did just that, revising its Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) data higher for the entirety of this inflation cycle.
As the yield on the 10-year US Treasury note soared, gold and silver came under selling pressure this week. But ahead of the weekend, bear closing in precious metals is evident. In European trade this morning, silver rallied to $23.00, down a net 55 cents from last Friday’s close. And gold traded at $1871, down a net $53. The numbers in other currencies were not nearly so grim due to dollar strength. The chart below shows the dollar’s Trade Weighted Index:
With the Asian hegemons undoubtedly able to introduce gold standards, where does that leave the dollar?
This article describes just how precarious the fiat dollar’s position has become.
The Fed people insist the economy is strong. They upped their GDP growth projections at their last meeting. Joe Biden thinks the economy is strong. He keeps bragging about the marvelous achievements of “Bidenomics.” Mainstream economists keep telling us the economy is strong.
But the average American isn’t buying any of it. (Perhaps price inflation makes it too expensive?)
Among the many problems currencies the markets face, there is one that is undocumented: the eurodollar market. This is yet another very large elephant in the room.
This article quantifies eurodollars and eurodollar bonds, which are additional to US money supply and credit.
The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady at the September FOMC meeting, but the committee indicated that it plans to hold rates higher for longer than originally projected.
As you digest the Fed meeting, it’s important to remember that there is a big difference between “saying” and “doing.”
Russia and the Saudis are driving up oil and diesel prices. But these moves are likely to undermine the rouble more than they undermine the dollar, euro, and other major currencies. Therefore, higher energy prices will rebound on the Russians this winter: if they shiver in Germany, they will freeze in Russia. If the dollar is king of the fiats, the rouble is just a lowly serf.
There is little doubt that Putin and his advisers are aware of this problem. Plan A was to introduce a new gold-backed BRICS currency which might be expected to weaken the dollar and euro relative to the rouble. Plan B was more drastic: to back the rouble itself with gold. This is the financial equivalent of dropping a hydrogen bomb on the dollar and the global fiat currency system upon which it is based.
A commenter on the SchiffGold Facebook page recently asserted that silver coins are “junk.” Why? Because as he put it, “silver is not rare,” and, “The silver/gold ratio investment premise is obsolete in this industrial, computerized and AI world.”
What should we make of these assertions?
About that disinflation…
It was transitory.
As we predicted, a jump in gasoline prices helped drive the August Consumer Price Index (CPI) higher, throwing cold water on the disinflation narrative.
The Federal Reserve is losing money.
That means the American taxpayer is losing money.
In most instances, a business bleeding red ink has a big problem and could ultimately go under. Not so for the Fed. In fact, losing money isn’t a problem for the central bank at all. But it is a big problem for the US government.
