themarketNZZ/Christopher Gisiger interview of James Grant/1-17-2023

“Inflation in such a system resembles one of these inextinguishable long-burning underground coal mine fires. I’m not sure if you have them in Switzerland, but in Pennsylvania for example there has been such a fire that’s been going on for around fifty years. You don’t always see it, but it flares to the surface from time to time. It’s always there, it’s always latent, leaking smoke, warming the soles of your shoes. To me, that is a good analogy for inflation in a free spending and paper currency issuing social democracy.”

USAGOLD note: If you’ve never exposed yourself to James Grant’s unique brand of deep thinking on the economy and financial markets, you might find opportunity in this interview with Christopher Gisiger. Grant has always been an advocate of gold ownership, and nothing has changed on that score. “Allow me to suggest that I’m somewhat of a broken record on gold,” he confesses. “I’m going to continue with this broken record and observe that people have not yet come to terms with the essential inherent weaknesses of the monetary system that has been in place since 1971.” A point well taken as illustrated by the chart below.

Grant’s Interest Rate Observer

Gold and the purchasing power of the US dollar
(USD as measured by the consumer price index)

Chart courtesy of TradingView.com