Posts by James G. Rickards

One of the simplest and best ways to think about the impact of interest rates is to use the Rule of 72. It’s a rule of thumb used to determine the number of years it will take to double your money at a given interest rate. You simply divide the number 72 by the interest…

While the kinetic war has been playing out, the U.S. is also conducting a financial war against Russia in the form of economic sanctions. This war is going even worse than the kinetic war, as reported by Reuters. The Russian economy is booming! Let’s look at the data. Russian bank profits for 2024 are projected…

So-called artificial intelligence (AI) is taking the world by storm. Meanwhile, gold has shot up like a rocket over the past couple of months. In mid-February, gold was trading at $1,990. Two months later, gold is trading above $2,400 — a $410 gain in just two months. So here’s a question: Is there a connection…

As you know by now, this weekend Iran attacked Israel with a combination of drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles. While we don’t have the exact number, reports indicate that the attack included about 300 drones and missiles in all. The attack was primarily focused on military and intelligence installations, not major population centers like…

Years ago, there used to be a slogan “If it ain’t Boeing, we’re not going.” The slogan was a nod of professional respect for the Seattle aircraft builder that brought America into the jet age with great dependable airliners like the Boeing 707, or the three-engine 727. Now the slogan could be, “If it’s Boeing,…

Since late 2022, the Wall Street crowd and financial analysts have been predicting the “pivot” away from interest rate hikes to interest rate cuts by the Fed. Guess what? They’ve been wrong the entire time and they’re wrong again now. The Fed began raising rates in March 2022. They started when the target rate was…

There’s no need to dive deep into conspiracy theories to say that there was massive cheating in the 2020 presidential election. Some of the wilder theories have not held up to scrutiny. Claims that automated voting machines were connected to the internet and secretly controlled by anti-American and Deep State operatives in Venezuela and Germany…

Russia is winning the War in Ukraine decisively. After winning the battle of Avdiivka, Russia rolled west and captured the towns of Tonen’ke, Orlivka, and Berdychi. Ukrainian casualties were estimated at 30,000 in the month of March and 100,000 since the start of the year. Those are comparable to the bloodiest battles in U.S. history…

This headline caught my eye: “Federal Reserve posts largest operating loss on record.” You read that right. The Federal Reserve System (the “Fed”) lost over $114 billion in 2023. Most readers ask, “How can the Fed lose money; don’t they print the stuff?” Well, yes, the Fed does print money, but that misses the point. From your…

Remember back in 2022 when the collective West (NATO and the U.S.) promised plenty of weapons to Ukraine to win the war against the Russians? Ukraine was promised HIMARS precision-guided artillery, Storm Shadow cruise missiles, Patriot anti-missile batteries, Leopard tanks from Germany, Challenger tanks from the UK, Abrams tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles from the…