In Jim Cook's Archive

HYPERINFLATION OF ASSETS

This morning, as I am writing this article, I’m watching an auction online of antique waterfowl decoys. These artifacts were used for hunting ducks, geese and shorebirds. Over 500 pieces will be sold in two days. Early items in the auction are 3 shorebird decoys estimated to sell at $300,000 to $500,000 each. (It became illegal to hunt shorebirds in 1918 because so many were killed and sold at food markets they were threatened with extinction.) If the prices of these decoys sound crazy to you take a look at some of the other collectibles setting records. So far this year, a Mickey Mantle rookie baseball card sold for $5.3 million and Babe Ruth’s road uniform sold for $5.64 million. Then we have $5.2 million for a LeBron James rookie card and $1.5 million for a Batman comic book. A Legend of Zelda video game just sold for $870,000 at auction. Also this year, a U.S. Double Eagle coin sold for $18.9 million and a digital art piece brought $69 million. My point is that the prices on so many things are booming. Similar examples can be found in stock prices, cryptocurrencies and property values.

One of the few things that has yet to climb dramatically in price is silver. That’s because the price has been suppressed. According to silver analyst Theodore Butler, that’s what gives us the opportunity to get into silver before it catches up with other assets. His argument for buying silver at $30 is that it’s far superior to assets that have already climbed to record levels. So much currency is being created it has caused an asset inflation that must inevitably get around to silver. He believes we will experience a price rise that makes headlines in the financial press.

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