Posts by James G. Rickards

Ice Nine is a concept I explored at length in my 2016 book The Road to Ruin. The idea comes from Kurt Vonnegut’s 1963 novel Cat’s Cradle. In the novel, an atomic scientist invented an isotope of water called Ice Nine. It was identical to water, except that it was frozen at room temperature. The other characteristic…

The Canadian truckers Freedom Convoy seems to have settled down for a prolonged confrontation in the streets of Ottawa. It’s true that the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario was cleared (with some truckers arrested but no violence), but that was just a matter of time. About 30% of all U.S./Canada trade in goods…

You’re certainly familiar with the Freedom Convoy in Canada by now. About a month ago, the prime minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, imposed another vax requirement on Canadian and U.S. truckers entering Canada. This was a mandatory vax requirement. Those who did not have the vax had to quarantine for two weeks on arrival in…

In this video, Jim Rickards answers a reader’s question: Why hasn’t the gold price gone through the roof over the last few years with governments buying up tonnes of the metal? Jim explains it’s not as simple as the gold price going up or down.

Biden pushed through a pandemic relief package early in 2021 consisting of $1.9 billion of handouts for Democrat pet projects. Although the bill was dressed up as COVID relief, the money actually went to Democratic states with no strings attached, and to teachers’ unions and other favored constituencies. Some money went to support jobs, but…

Inflation in the U.S. hit a 40-year high in January of 7.5%. That comes on top of another 40-year high of 7.0% the month before. Jay Powell’s vision of “transitory” inflation is now in shreds. The 7.5% inflation rate is an overall average calculated by the government based on about 29 main categories of goods,…

You’re certainly familiar with the Freedom Convoy by now. About a month ago, the Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau imposed another vax requirement on Canadian and U.S. truckers entering Canada. This was a mandatory vax requirement. Those who did not have the vax had to quarantine for two weeks on arrival in Canada. Many…

We’ve all heard about the labor shortage affecting the U.S. economy, especially small and medium-sized businesses. You see evidence everywhere you go. There are “Help Wanted” signs at most stores and restaurants. When you go to a restaurant, the host may caution you that your meal will take longer than usual to serve because they’re…

The role of a public pension fund investment manager is to handle the assets under its custody in a prudent manner for the benefit of those who are relying on future returns to pay their retirement benefits. Prudent management is well-defined in law. It means diversification and seeking returns without undue risk. The manager should…

I’ve been writing about lockdowns, quarantines, vaccines, and other public policy failures in response to the pandemic for over a year. A lot of my material appeared in my book, The New Great Depression, published in January 2021, but the research and writing of that book went back to the summer of 2020. In other…