A Global Liquidity Crisis with Massive Food Shortages Is Coming Warns Jim Rickards

In part one of Jim Rickards' discussion with our Daniela Cambone, the NYT best-selling author said "the coexistence of economic sanctions and kinetic warfare is nothing new." 

The rising tensions between the United States and Russia did not brew overnight, Rickards continues. 

Ukraine should be a "buffer state and should be neutral," Rickards says, emphasizing that economic sanctions not only punish Russian citizens, but also punish American citizens. 

Rickards implies that there will be massive food shortages as Russia occupies Ukraine, saying, "the impact is already here, and it's going to get a lot worse." 

The Chinese yuan and Russian ruble will not replace the dollar as the world reserve currency, he concludes.

- Source, Stansberry Research

Jim Rickards: Russia's Effect on Commodities and US Economy

Russia's Effect on Commodities and US Economy In this interview, Jim Rickards discusses how the Fed will position US interest rates in response to the current economy, given the drastic effect Russian sanctions have had on commodities.

Jim Rickards: The Russian and Ukraine Geopolitical Situation Explained in Depth

In this interview, Jim Rickards provides his latest analysis on the Russia-Ukraine situation. 

Jim goes back through the history of this conflict, and gives his explanation of what 'winning' this war will look like.

- Source, Fat Tail Investment Research

James Rickards: Putin May or May Not Win This War, But There is Zero Evidence of Mental Impairment

"White House is worried about Putin's mental health. Really? Putin may or may not win this war. 

But there's zero evidence of mental impairment. 

Dementia and physical decline are clearly evident in Biden not Putin. The White House is projecting not thinking."

- Source, James Rickards

Jim Rickards: Russia is Trapping Ukrainian Forces, Kyiv Will be the Last to Fall

Kherson has fallen, Kharkiv and Mariupol under siege. When they fall, Putin has line of control from Kherson to Kharkiv centered on Zaporizhzhia and a land bridge from Luhansk to Crimea. 

This traps Ukrainian forces behind the line. Odessa next. Kyiv is last objective not first.

- Source, James Rickards via Twitter

James Rickards: You Can't Hack Gold

Russia’s desire to break away from the hegemony of the U.S. dollar and the dollar payment system is well-known. Over 60% of global reserves and 80% of global payments are in dollars. The U.S. is the only country with veto power at the International Monetary Fund, the global lender of last resort.

So Russia has been building nondollar payments systems with regional trading partners and China.

The U.S. uses its influence at SWIFT, the central nervous system of global money transfer message traffic, to cut off nations it considers to be threats.

From a financial perspective, this is like cutting off oxygen to a patient in the intensive care unit. Russia understands its vulnerability to U.S. domination and wants to reduce that vulnerability.

But Russia has created an alternative to SWIFT.

The head of Russia’s central bank, Elvira Nabiullina, reported to Vladimir Putin that “There was the threat of being shut out of SWIFT. We updated our transaction system, and if anything happens, all SWIFT-format operations will continue to work. We created an analogous system.”

Another Russian strategy to bypass sanctions has been to stockpile gold.

You Can’t Hack Gold

Perhaps Russia’s most aggressive weapon in its war on dollars is gold. The first line of defense is to acquire physical gold, which cannot be frozen out of the international payments system or hacked.

With gold, you can always pay another country just by putting the gold on an airplane and shipping it to the counterparty. This is the 21st-century equivalent of how J.P. Morgan settled payments in gold by ship or railroad in the early 20th century.

Russia’s reserve position has hit a new all-time high of $640 billion, of which $140 billion (22%) is in physical gold bullion held inside Russia. We’ll see how Biden’s digital sanctions would do against Russia’s physical gold. Once again, you can’t hack gold.

So will Russia invade? As I said earlier, I’m skeptical that Putin will invade. It seems he can get much of what he wants just with the threat to invade.

Still, the arguments for invasion are well reasoned, and it’s still a legitimate possibility. You might want to stock up on gold yourself just in case.

- Source, The Daily Reckoning via James Rickards