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In January 1934, the dollar was devalued against gold by 69% when the US federal government arbitrarily changed the definition of the dollar. What had been 23.22 grains of fine gold ($20.67 per ounce; $0.66 per goldgram) was suddenly cheapened with the stroke of President Franklin Roosevelt’s pen to 13.71 grains of gold ($35 perRead more

Gold may seem overvalued because of the recent record highs in its 6-decade ascent from $35 to $2500, but prices – like appearances – can be deceiving. What’s more, the value of any asset is more important than its price. Price and value are too often conflated, which is a mistake. An asset’s price andRead more

Monetary and banking crises are a recurring event. Sometimes their impact is contained, like occurred when three California banks collapsed in early 2023. Other times – like the Great Depression – the fallout can be calamitous. Large or small, these crises are inevitable and unavoidable. This observation is not only undeniable from even a cursoryRead more

“How did you go bankrupt?” Bill asked. “Two ways,” Mike said. “Gradually and then suddenly.” Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises, 1926. The financial position of the federal government of the United States has been gradually deteriorating for decades. It is now rushing headlong to the financial tipping point that will cause it to default onRead more

In 1922 Benito Mussolini became prime minister of Italy, putting that country on a path that had global ramifications. He was the world’s first fascist leader. Other fascists soon followed with fanciful promises that were varied but tuned in to what people wanted to hear. Their problems would be solved, whether the restoration of order,Read more

Some interesting data on housing prices in the United Kingdom(1) was recently published by Savills, one of the world’s leading property agents. The important messages that can be drawn from this data apply globally, namely, that fiat currency has a clear and direct impact on prices that can lead to a variety of misconceptions aboutRead more

The German version of The Epoch Times newspaper published an interview by Roman Baudzus with James Turk on April 8, 2022, which was also posted online and can be read at this link. With their permission to publish the English version, the interview follows: RB: I would like to start our conversation with a lookRead more

Silver continues to underperform gold, but I believe that is about to change. It may happen as soon as this week after the Federal Reserve announces its half-hearted effort to control inflation by raising interest rates only .25% or .50%. Based on last Friday’s closing prices, it took 76 ounces of silver to equal theRead more

It was not long after the internet began appealing to a wide audience with the adoption of browsers in the late 1990s that virtual currency appeared in online gaming. The potential of virtual currency opened a world of new possibilities, and entrepreneurs acted. Capitalism creates new products to replace those when they fail to provideRead more

Several people have asked why I wrote Money and Liberty: In the Pursuit of Happiness & The Theory of Natural Money while others requested some insight about its content. My objective was to explain why: gold is money and not an ‘investment’, which is not well understood these days, even among many in the goldRead more