In Jim Cook's Archive

Bad Ending

One thing that our interview with Mr. Butler didn’t cover was the economic reason to own silver. He’s not much on gloom and doom. However, I am. To me it’s the most important reason to own silver. In 1998 my novel, “Full Faith & Credit,” was based on an economic crisis where gold went to $1,000 an ounce. I have a friend who is the president of a large Canadian gold mining company. He told me recently that he knew exactly what was going to happen over the last few years. “I read your book,” he said. “It spells it all out.”

I’m not going to write another novel but I’ll tell you that things are going to get worse. It may be now or it may be after a great inflation that government policies make inevitable. The Wall Street-Washington axis does not begin to comprehend the extent of our monetary sins. They don’t see the ugly financial future that awaits us. Our economists are egocentric talkers. Our politicians swollen with self-importance argue for economic fairy tales. Wall Street is overflowing with wishful thinkers and self-serving babblers. Talking heads fill the airwaves with anti-capitalist diatribes or lukewarm endorsements of free markets. Nobody remembers what made us great.

We will likely have another unhealthy boom if they flood us with enough paper. It won’t be a production boom, only a financial boom. The Wall Street casinos will heat up again and a trillion will be the new billion. After that it’s back to the abyss to flirt with financial Armageddon once again. Get the picture? We’re done, it’s all downhill from here. Boom, bust, inflation, deflation and each one taking a terrible toll on our currency, our industry, our prosperity and our prestige. Eventually, we’re going to hit the gutter. It would be best if it happened fast and we learned our lesson. More likely, it will take too much time and the government’s desperate measures will plunge us into an economic maelstrom and a new dark ages.

A more optimistic note comes from author and TV personality Peter Schiff. “I believe that we must restore the conditions that led to our economic preeminence. We must once again become the leader in economic freedom. This entails dismantling a significant portion of our federal and state governments, repealing countless unnecessary regulations, significantly lowering and simplifying taxes, and reinstituting sound money. If we accomplish these tasks, conditions will be ripe for a lasting recovery that solidifies our place at the top of the global economic totem pole.”

Frankly, I doubt that will happen. Too many people live off the productive sector. It’s too late to roll back big government, but it’s certainly worth a try. We can at least fight the good fight. However, to lose means the radicals and the barbarians will plunder us until nothing is left. It will be worse than you think or can even imagine.

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