James Rickards: “1984” Has Come to China

You’re probably familiar with George Orwell’s classic dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four; (it’s often published as 1984). It was written in 1948; the title comes from reversing the last two digits in 1948.

The novel describes a world of three global empires, Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia, in a constant state of war.

Orwell created an original vocabulary for his book, much of which is in common, if sardonic, usage today. Terms such as Thought Police, Big Brother, doublethink, Newspeak and memory hole all come from Nineteen Eight-Four.

Orwell intended it as a warning about how certain countries might evolve in the aftermath of World War II and the beginning of the Cold War. He was certainly concerned about Stalinism, but his warnings applied to Western democracies also.

When the calendar year 1984 came and went, many breathed a sigh of relief that Orwell’s prophesy had not come true. But that sigh of relief was premature. Orwell’s nightmare society is here today in the form of Communist China…

China has most of the apparatus of the totalitarian societies described in Orwell’s book. China uses facial recognition software and ubiquitous digital surveillance to keep track of its citizens. The internet is censored and monitored. Real-life thought police will arrest you for expressing opinions opposed to the government or its policies.

Millions of Chinese have been arrested and sent to “reeducation” camps for brainwashing (the lucky ones) or involuntary organ removal without anesthetic (the unlucky ones who die in excruciating pain and are swiftly cremated as a result).

While these atrocities are not going to happen in the U.S. or what passes for the West these days, the less extreme aspects of China’s surveillance state could well be. And while you might not be arrested for expressing unpopular opinions or challenging prevailing dogmas (at least not yet), you could face other sanctions. You could even lose your job and find it nearly impossible to find another.

You can certainly be banned from social media…

Anything seems to go on social media (primarily Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube and a few other platforms) — unless you’re a conservative personality or politico. That’s where the censorship begins.

Many conservative social media participants have had their acco‌unts closed or suspended, not for threats or vulgarity but for criticism of “progressive” views (albeit criticism with some sharp edges).

Meanwhile, those with progressive views can say almost anything on social media, including the implicit endorsement of violence. But nothing happens.

Other conservatives report being the targets of “shadow banning.” That’s where your acco‌unt is open and seems to operate normally, but unbeknownst to you, much of the network is being blocked from seeing your posts and popular features such as “likes” and “retweets” are being truncated and not distributed.

It’s like being a pro athlete who finds out the stadium is empty and no tickets are being sold. That’s bad enough. But Twitter took the war on conservatives a step further.

Well, one of the most widely followed acco‌unts on Twitter is none other than Donald J. Trump’s, with 68 million followers. President Trump uses Twitter to announce policy initiatives and personnel changes and to offer pointed criticism of political opponents. It’s a major platform for him.

Last month Trump issued a tweet that identified the so-called “whistleblower” of the Ukraine phone call that led to his impeachment. That’s not as big a deal as it sounds because everyone in Washington knew who the whistleblower was (you can look his name up on the web), and he wasn’t even a real whistleblower because he didn’t meet statutory requirements.

Still, Twitter blocked Trump’s tweet. Twitter blamed a temporary system “outage,” but that claim was highly suspicious. Later, Trump’s tweet was restored, but the original acco‌unt that Trump linked to had been deleted. No one ever said that politics was fair.

But Twitter’s blatant interference in the election could have adverse consequences for the company in Trump’s second term.

And a few social media companies are now de facto censors, taking over the job from the government. Given their massive media footprint, they wield extraordinary influence over the American public.

They’re in essence becoming propaganda outfits.

It’s not just here of course. Canada, for example, is actively pursuing digital surveillance to track the activities of law-abiding citizens.

A report for the Bank of Canada says that financial information gathered from digital transaction records could be used for “sharing information with police and tax authorities.”

If all transactions are digital (including credit and debit cards), authorities can track your whereabouts, buying habits, restaurant choices and much more. They could also reveal your political orientation and personal associations.

- James Rickards via the Daily Reckoning

Real Conversations: Jim Rickards on How To Protect Your Wealth When This Bubble Bursts

“I was able to ask Larry Summers about that at dinner a couple of days ago. I knew the answer, but I wanted to hear what his answer was. 

So the question was, ‘In the last 10 years, Russia has more than tripled its gold reserves and China has more than tripled its gold reserves.’ They have a lot more off the books, but let's take the official number. 

Why are they doing it? And he sort of thought about it for a second and he said, ‘Well, diversification.’ That's actually technically a good answer. 

But then he said, ‘Maybe they think the price will go up.’ So I’ve got Larry Summers on the record saying, higher gold prices. I'm on board with that.”

- Source, Hedgeye

James Rickards: A June Rate Cut is Coming and the Market is Not Pricing it In

James Rickards talks about what he sees coming next for the markets, with Sprott Media. 

He talks about how a June rate cut is likely coming and how the markets and precious metals are not correctly pricing this in.

Can the Fed advert the next major recession that is just over the horizon? Join James Rickards to find out the answers to this and much more.

- Source, Sprott Media

James Rickards: Why Being Impeached Would of Been Good for President Trump

James Rickards Warning: China’s Collapse Has Only Just Begun

James Rickards Ultimate Forecast for Investing in 2020

The macroeconomic growth forecast for 2020 will not be strong, but as long as the Federal Reserve remains accommodative, equities can remain high, this according to best-selling author Jim Rickards. 

“Some analysts give recession almost a 0% chance in the next six months, and I agree with that, probably not even more than a 30% chance,” Rickards told Kitco News.

- Source, Kitco News

Disease Contagion and Financial Contagion Both Work the Same Way

The comparison between medical pandemics and financial panics is more than a metaphor.

Disease contagion and financial contagion both work the same way. The nonlinear mathematics and system dynamics are identical in the two cases even though the “virus” is financial distress rather than a biological virus.

But what happens when these two dynamic functions interact? What happens when a biological virus turns into a financial virus?

We’re seeing it happen in China.

It’s the time of the Lunar New Year holiday in China, China’s most important public holiday. It’s traditionally a time of widespread celebration.

But, for many Chinese cities, not this year.

Many major Chinese cities have been shut down, with no citizens allowed to leave, and their transportation systems have been closed.

Retails sales are also suffering as consumers remain home instead of risking contagion with trips to the store.

The disease is causing financial panic in China at a time when it can least afford it. GDP growth has hit a wall and investors have curtailed new investment.

Could it unleash a global financial panic that ultimately results in a lockdown of the banking system?

It’s possible, but it’s far too soon to say. This is the type of catalyst that could take a year to build.

But it definitely bears watching...

- Source, James Rickards

James Rickards: Contagion!

The world is confronting the effects of the “coronavirus.” It likely originated in Wuhan, China, where it jumped from animals to humans at a local food market. It has since spread to other parts of China and beyond.

So far, there are 2,886 confirmed total cases of the coronavirus. All but 61 of them are in mainland China. The death toll so far is 81.

But cases have also been found in France, the U.S., Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea and elsewhere. That list includes the world’s three largest economies (the U.S., China and Japan).

For many, it recalls the SARS outbreak of 2003, which also originated in China. It ultimately killed 774 people and infected more than 8,000 in different parts of the world.

Not surprisingly, global markets are on edge over fears of the “coronavirus” contagion spreading. And the U.S. stock market sold off today.

The Dow lost 454 points. The S&P and Nasdaq also had awful days. But gold has a good day, up over $10 to $1,582, as investors looked for safety.

But let’s discuss the word “contagion,” because it applies to both human populations and financial markets — and in more ways than you may expect.

There’s a reason why financial experts and risk managers use the word “contagion” to describe a financial panic.

Obviously, the word contagion refers to an epidemic or pandemic. In the public health field, a disease can be transmitted from human to human through coughing, shared needles, shared food or contact involving bodily fluids.

An initial carrier of a disease (“patient zero”) may have many contacts before the disease even appears.

Some diseases have a latency period of weeks or longer, which means patient zero can infect hundreds before health professionals are even aware of the disease. Then those hundreds can infect thousands or even millions before they are identified as carriers.

In extreme cases, such as the “Spanish flu” pandemic of 1918–20 involving the H1N1 influenza virus, the number infected can reach 500 million and the death toll can run over 100 million.

A similar dynamic applies in financial panics.

It can begin with one bank or broker going bankrupt as the result of a market collapse (a “financial patient zero.”)

But the financial distress quickly spreads to banks that did business with the failed entity and then to stockholders and depositors of those other banks and so on until the entire world is in the grip of a financial panic as happened in 2008...

- Source, James Rickards, read more here

James Rickards: In Today’s World, Everyone’s a Potential Casualty of Financial Warfare

Following the killing of Soleimani on Iraqi soil, Iraq threatened to expel all U.S. troops from Iraq. Trump answered in two parts.

He said U.S. troops would not leave until Iraq repaid the U.S. for building bases and other infrastructure in Iraq. Trump also warned that Iraq’s access to its account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York could be terminated.

That would make it impossible for Iraq to purchase and sell oil in dollars. It could also cause Iraq to lose access to about $3 billion currently held in that account.

Iraq has heard the U.S. threats loud and clear. As of now, U.S. troops are still in Iraq and not planning to leave anytime soon.

The fact that Iraqi policy could be conditioned without a shot being fired shows the raw power of financial warfare.

The trouble is private businesses and investors can get caught in the crossfire of financial warfare.

According to one survey, last year saw a 42% increase in cyberattacks on private companies around the world (attributable to foreign governments).

About 20% of businesses reported daily attacks, many in the banking and financial services sectors. Only 6% of businesses in the survey claimed they weren’t targeted by a cyberattack in 2019.

You as an investor trying to mind your own business or build wealth or expand your portfolio may get caught in the crossfire of a financial war. So you have to take that into account in your portfolio allocations and risk management.

In today’s world, everyone’s a potential casualty of financial warfare.

- Source, James Rickards via The Daily Reckoning

Jim Rickards: Don’t Mess With the United States Financially

I’ve been documenting financial warfare in my articles for years, but it still doesn’t get the mainstream attention it deserves.

Because as you’ll see below, it can directly impact your wealth.

Financial warfare tools include account seizures and freezes, expulsion from global payment systems, secondary fines and penalties on banks that do business with targeted entities, embargoes, tariffs and many other impositions.

These tools are amplified by the unique role of the U.S. dollar, which is the currency behind 60% of global reserves, 80% of global payments and almost 100% of transactions in oil.

The U.S. controls the banks and payments systems that process dollar transactions. This leaves the U.S. well positioned to impose dollar-related sanctions.

Much has been made of the recent killing of Iranian terrorist mastermind Qasem Soleimani. Many say it was an act of war. But guess what, folks?

We’ve been in a full-scale war with Iran for two years now. It’s just that most people don’t realize it.

It’s not a kinetic war with troops, missiles and ships (except Iran’s use of terrorist bombs and the U.S.’ use of drones). And it’s severely damaged the Iranian economy, which has led to protests against the regime.

From the U.S. side, it’s a financial war. People need to stop thinking about financial sanctions as an extension of trade policy, for example.

This is warfare. It’s just a different form of warfare.

It’s critical to understand that financial war is not a sideshow. It may actually be the main event in today’s deeply connected and computerized world.

North Korea is also the current target of a U.S. “maximum pressure” campaign, where harsh sanctions are applied to a wide range of banks, companies and individuals.

As with Iran, sanctions have been instrumental in destabilizing the regime and bringing North Korea to the bargaining table to discuss its nuclear weapons programs.

Now, Iraq is the latest country to feel the sting of U.S. dollar sanctions...

- Source, Jim Rickards via The Daily Reckoning

New Gold Standard? Chaos

Don't expect the US to expect it...

OVER the past century, monetary systems change about every 30 to 40 years on average, says Jim Rickards, writing in The Daily Reckoning.

Before 1914, the global monetary system was based on the classical gold standard.

Then in 1945, a new monetary system emerged at Bretton Woods. I was at Bretton Woods this past summer to commemorate its 75th anniversary.

Under that system, the Dollar became the global reserve currency, linked to gold at $35 per ounce. In 1971 Nixon ended the direct convertibility of the Dollar to gold. For the first time, the monetary system had no gold backing.

Today, the existing monetary system is nearly 50 years old, so the world is long overdue for a change. Gold should once again play a leading role.

I've written and spoken publicly for years about the prospects for a new gold standard. My analysis is straightforward.

International monetary figures have a choice. They can reintroduce gold into the monetary system either on a strict or loose basis (such as a "reference price" in monetary policy decision making).

This can be done as the result of a new monetary conference, a la Bretton Woods. It could be organized by some convening power, probably the US working with China.

Or they can ignore the problem, let a debt crisis materialize (that will play out in interest rates and foreign-exchange markets) and watch gold soar to $14,000 per ounce or higher, not because they wanted it to but because the system is out of control.

I've also said that the former course (a conference) is more desirable, but the latter course (chaos) is more likely. A monetary conference would be far preferable. Why not avoid the train wreck rather than clear up the wreckage? But will probably be ignored until it's too late. Either way, the price of gold soars.

The same force that made the Dollar the world's reserve currency is working to dethrone it. It was at Bretton Woods that the Dollar was officially designated the world's leading reserve currency – a position that it still holds today.

Under the Bretton Woods system, all major currencies were pegged to the Dollar at a fixed exchange rate. The Dollar itself was pegged to gold at the rate of $35 per ounce. Indirectly, the other currencies had a fixed gold value because of their peg to the Dollar.

Other currencies could devalue against the Dollar, and therefore against gold, if they received permission from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). However, the Dollar could not devalue, at least in theory. It was the keystone of the entire system – intended to be permanently anchored to gold.

From 1950-1970 the Bretton Woods system worked fairly well. Trading partners of the US who earned Dollars could cash those Dollars into the US Treasury and be paid in gold at the fixed rate.

Trading partners of the US who earned Dollars could cash those Dollars into the US Treasury and be paid in gold at the fixed rate.

In 1950, the US had about 20,000 tons of gold. By 1970, that amount had been reduced to about 9,000 tons. The 11,000-ton decline went to US trading partners, primarily Germany, France and Italy, who earned Dollars and cashed them in for gold.

The UK Pound Sterling had previously held the dominant reserve currency role starting in 1816, following the end of the Napoleonic Wars and the official adoption of the gold standard by the UK Many observers assume the 1944 Bretton Woods conference was the moment the US Dollar replaced Sterling as the world's leading reserve currency.

In fact, that replacement of Sterling by the Dollar as the world's leading reserve currency was a process that took 30 years, from 1914 to 1944.

In fact, the period from 1919-1939 was really one in which the world had two major reserve currencies – Dollars and Sterling – operating side by side.

Finally, in 1939, England suspended gold shipments in order to fight the Second World War and the role of Sterling as a reliable store of value was greatly diminished. The 1944 Bretton Woods conference was merely recognition of a process of Dollar reserve dominance that had started in 1914.

The significance of the process by which the Dollar replaced Sterling over a 30-year period has huge implications for you today. Slippage in the Dollar's role as the leading global reserve currency is not necessarily something that would happen overnight, but is more likely to be a slow, steady process.

Signs of this are already visible. In 2000, Dollar assets were about 70% of global reserves. Today, the comparable figure is about 62%. If this trend continues, one could easily see the Dollar fall below 50% in the not-too-distant future.

It is equally obvious that a major creditor nation is emerging to challenge the US today just as the US emerged to challenge the UK in 1914. That power is China. The US had massive gold inflows from 1914-1944. China has been experiencing massive gold inflows in recent years.

Gold reserves at the People's Bank of China (PBOC) increased to 1948.31 tonnes in the fourth quarter of 2019. For comparison, it held 1,658 tonnes in June, 2015.

But China has acquired thousands of metric tonnes since without reporting these acquisitions to the IMF or World Gold Council.

Based on available data on imports and the output of Chinese mines, actual Chinese government and private gold holdings are likely much higher. It's hard to pinpoint because China operates through secret channels and does not officially report its gold holdings except at rare intervals.

China's gold acquisition is not the result of a formal gold standard, but is happening by stealth acquisitions on the market. They're using intelligence and military assets, covert operations and market manipulation. But the result is the same. Gold's been flowing to China in recent years, just as gold flowed to the US before Bretton Woods.

China is not alone in its efforts to achieve creditor status and to acquire gold. Russia has greatly increased its gold reserves over the past several years and has little external debt. The move to accumulate gold in Russia is no secret, and as Putin advisor, Sergey Glazyev told Russian Insider has said, "The ruble is the most gold-backed currency in the world."

Iran has also imported massive amounts of gold, mostly through Turkey and Dubai, although no one knows the exact amount, because Iranian gold imports are a state secret.

Other countries, including BRICS members Brazil, India and South Africa, have joined Russia and China in their desire to break free of US Dollar dominance.

Sterling faced a single rival in 1914, the US Dollar. Today, the Dollar faces a host of rivals. The decline of the Dollar as a reserve currency started in 2000 with the advent of the Euro and accelerated in 2010 with the beginning of a new currency war.

The Dollar collapse has already begun and the need for a new monetary order will need to emerge. The question is whether it will be an orderly process resulting from a new monetary conference, or a chaotic one.

Unfortunately, it'll probably be chaotic. Don't count on the elites to act in time.

- Source, Bullion Vault

James Rickards: Stocks Are in Bubble Territory Based on Weak Earning

Just scan the headlines (that’s what computers do), weigh the factors and make the call. It’s easy! What’s not so easy is understanding where markets go when these factors are no longer in play.

Stocks are in bubble territory, based on weak earnings, and have been propped up by expected good news on trade.

The other driver is FOMO — “fear of missing out” — that can turn to simple fear in a heartbeat. If the phase one trade deal and a successor to NAFTA (USMCA) are both approved by late December and the Fed pauses rate cuts indefinitely, which are both likely, what’s left to drive stock prices higher?

It won’t be earnings or GDP, which are both weak. Once the good news is fully priced in, there’s nothing left but bad news. And we’re at the point right now.

That leaves stocks vulnerable to a sharp decline around year-end or early 2020. Simple solutions for investors include cash, gold and Treasuries. Get ready...

- Source, Jim Rickards