Dmitry Orlov's repeated travels to Russia throughout the early nineties allowed him to observe the aftermath of the Soviet collapse first-hand. Being both a Russian and an American, Dmitry was able to appreciate both the differences and the similarities between the two superpowers. Eventually he came to the conclusion that the United States is going the way of the Soviet Union and has concluded that when the U.S. economy collapses, it is bound to be much worse - and permanent - because the factors that allowed Russia and the other former Soviet republics to recover are not present here. Words: 3730; Slides: 28

The breakdown after the QE4 announcement, and now the extreme move into a yearly cycle low has, I daresay, convinced everyone that the gold bull is over. I would argue that it is impossible for the gold bull to be over as long as central banks around the world continue to debase their currencies [and that] gold is just creating the conditions - a T-1 pattern - necessary for its next leg up to what I expect to be...around $3200 sometime in late 2014 or early 2015. [Let me explain.] Words: 560; Charts: 3

I read many hundreds of articles every week looking for writers who have an in-depth understanding of our economy and who are not reticent to tell it like it is. Monty Pelerin (a pseudonym) does just that week after week, year after year. This post includes introductory paragraphs and links to 25 of his most enlightening and current articles. Take a look. There are bound to be several that will grab your interest.

The last several decades of governmental economic policy has seen wealth destruction. Such policies are analogous to the government heating its home by burning the furniture. Burning furniture might get you through a few winters, but unless it is replaced eventually there is nowhere to sit and no fuel for next winter. Fortunately our ancestors were industrious and frugal, creating a lot of furniture. We stayed warm for a long time as a result, but the furniture is disappearing. Words: 970

On the surface, policy settings around the world look very inflationary with large fiscal deficits and aggressively easy monetary policies yet it is hard to see inflation gaining any traction [with] global activity so weak and the monetary transmission process so impaired in many countries. There is more of a deflationary than inflationary tone to the economic environment and it does not look as if this will change any time soon.

The US Treasury Bond market is the longest unbroken bull market known to the financial world [thanks in large part to the Fed who is] buying up every penny of newly issued government debt. [In doing so] this issuance of debt is following the exact path of the Jean-Paul Rodrigue' "bubble model". Words: 290; Charts: 4; Tables 1

[In a recent] conversation about international banking and the state of the global financial system [with] a senior executive of a large international bank - the ultimate insider - I was floored by what he told me. [Here's what he had to say and, in his opinion,] what basic steps, taken now, will enable you to be one of the few people left standing should the house of cards collapse. Words: 465

People who are saying there is no reason to buy gold now, never understood the reason people were buying it in the first place. People weren’t buying gold because they were worried about a crisis in the Eurozone or weak US stocks. People were buying gold because central banks were printing too much money. It’s inflation that drives the gold train, not political uncertainty.

The stock markets make no sense. They have literally lost touch with reality. Divergences between fundamentals, confidence and the valuation of markets are large [and, as such,] cannot last for long....The only question is how...and how quickly....this correction occurs. Words: 261

Don’t get too worked up over interest on the national debt or what will happen when interest rates rise because, by then, we’ll likely be talking about ways to cool down the economy. [Why?] Because interest rates on US government debt are really a function of economic growth. If the economy is weak the Fed will pin short rates to stimulate the economy and if rates rise it’s going to be a function of better days ahead. Words: 525