Tag Archives: Thoughts

by Claudio Grass, Hünenberg, Switzerland It’s been an intense few weeks for precious metals investors, with gold and silver suffering setbacks and somewhat increased volatility. This has caused some observers and mainstream analysts to jump to gloomy conclusions and proclaim that gold’s bull run is over. Instead, they’re betting everything on the “great recovery” from the covid crisis and on an apparently imminent roaring comeback of the world economy. However, when one takes a...

Interview with Ronald-Peter Stöferle: Part II of II Claudio Grass (CG): Even before the pandemic, there was a clear trend towards the politicization of central banks and monetary policy. Over the last year, however, we saw this accelerate considerably, to the point where the supposed independence of the Fed or the ECB looks like a thing of the past. Should investors, savers and ordinary citizens be concerned about this development? Ronald Stöferle (RS): Yes, for several...

Interview with Ronald-Peter Stöferle: Part I of II I’ve long been an avid and enthusiastic reader of the “In Gold We Trust” report (“IGWT”), as I believe countless other gold investors are, and I’ve always found great value in the insights, the analyses and all the astute commentary and elucidating charts it contains.  However, I was particularly looking forward to this year’s IGWT report. So much had changed, so many shifts and shocks had taken place in 2020, that any...

I was offered on June, 15th, to express some thoughts on Biden-Putin. Enjoy! [embedded content]

Interview with Fernando del Pino Calvo-Sotelo: Part II of II Claudio Grass (CG): In your analyses and articles on the issues around the covid crisis, you have adopted a very rational and calm approach, focusing on evidence and scientific facts. Why do you think it is that so many people, both among the governing and the governed, have failed to use these logical tools in dealing with this pandemic? Why does emotion prevail over logic so often? Fernando del Pino (FdP): Pascal...

Interview with Fernando del Pino Calvo-Sotelo: Part I of II Even from the early days of the covid crisis, most sensible observers were concerned that the risk of mass panic and of fear overtaking reason was going to be much higher and much more severe than the biological threat itself. As the weeks and months went on, those concerns were substantiated, as politicians and the media all over the world fueled the flames, bombarded the public with apocalyptic images and chose...

The hidden tax A lot of people might be aware of historical cases of hyperinflation, like that of Hungary and the Weimar Republic, or even contemporary ones, like that of Venezuela. And yet, these are taught or reported like extreme cases, very far removed from the daily experience of most modern Western citizens. They are presented as though this sort of thing “could never happen here” and very often, the mechanisms and the conscious choices that led to these...

The hidden tax A lot of people might be aware of historical cases of hyperinflation, like that of Hungary and the Weimar Republic, or even contemporary ones, like that of Venezuela. And yet, these are taught or reported like extreme cases, very far removed from the daily experience of most modern Western citizens. They are presented as though this sort of thing “could never happen here” and very often, the mechanisms and the conscious choices that led to these disasters are being...

I have long thought about and written about the incredible opportunities that decentralized digital technologies have brought forward, especially when it comes to solving financial and monetary problems. The more these technologies and their applications develop and mature, the more I believe they hold many of the answers to some our most complex challenges. Chief among them is the future of money itself: the idea of a decentralized, robust and independent system of freely competing...

Interview with David Morgan: Part II of II Claudio Grass (CG): During the first wave of lockdowns and travel bans we saw a lot of disruptions in the physical precious metal market. With delivery delays and logistics problems, has the situation fully normalized today for physical silver, or are you seeing shortages? David Morgan (DM): We are still seeing shortages. I mean, the amount of investment demand set a record in 2020 and has remained robust in 2021. The pressure on the...