Signs of the TimeIn his provocative best-seller, "The Death of Money", published last year, author James Rickards listed his seven critical signs for investors to note. I review them here in the hope that they let us better understand the environment in which BitGold is launching its platform.
!. The Price of Gold. If gold races up to $2500, then we will be witnessing a full blown panic. Conversely, if the price dives to $800 then we will be into a severe deflationary period akin to the Dirty 30s. With gold now at $1100, it could go either way. Sign unconfirmed.
2. Gold's continued acquisition by central banks. The recent disclosure by China that its official reserves were up some 57% (no word of course on the unofficial reserves) confirms this sign. Governments say gold isn't money but they buy it and will not sell it. Sign confirmed.
3. IMF governance reforms. A larger role for China and a move away from the US Dollar as the world reserve currency. Sign confirmed.
4. The failure of regulatory reform. After the Panic of 2008, they promised to reform the Wall Street and Banking System. Nothing of note has been done since. The banks that were "too big to fail" are even bigger now. The Banksters are richer than ever. The CEO of Goldman Sachs was declared a billionaire last week. Sign confirmed.
5. System crashes. In complex systems, crashes should be expected. Cyber attacks; computer trading running amuck; code clitches - these can shut down markets and damage confidence. The New York Stock Exchange was shut down recently for hours. Sign confirmed.
6. The end of QE and Abenomics. Such a policy will give deflation a second wind. The States ended their QE program and there are been a major collapse in commodity prices: oil, metals, iron ore, etc. The FED wants inflation at 2% and instead they are getting serious deflation. Sign confirmed.
7. A Chinese Collapse. Richards describes the financial structure in China as a giant Ponzi scheme, with Ghost Cities and rigged markets. Last month, the Chinese stock markets went into free fall and lost some 4 TRILLION dollars. The government stepped with extraordinary measures to arrest the panic. Its like sticking a finger in the dyke! Sign confirmed.
Score: 6 confirmed signs and 1 still uncertain.
After every crisis, the People In Charge always say: "Nobody could have seen it coming."
Really?