Free Republic

At 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 14, Ana Belen Montes, a senior analyst at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), walked into a public telephone booth outside Washington's National Zoo and made two calls to pager numbers later traced by federal agents to Cuba's Directorate of General Intelligence (DGI). She already had compromised the identities of CIA agents, revealed U.S. military secrets and exposed the contents of classified files. But, as Montes sent repeated signals to her DGI handlers during the days immediately following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and the twin towers of the World Trade Center, the ...

Gold prices dropped sharply following comments from Donald Trump late Wednesday evening, after he addressed the nation on the ongoing Iran conflict but failed to provide clarity on how or when it might end. At a time when geopolitical tensions are escalating and uncertainty remains high, gold would typically surge as a safe-haven asset. After Trump’s latest speech failed to provide clarity on how or when the conflict with Iran might end, gold fell more than 2–3% in early trading, while oil prices surged and markets began pricing in a very different economic outcome.For investors, this shift is critical. It...

I’m reluctant to post a video as the average Freeper will respond with an angry, “I don’t watch videos!!!” Sometimes with an excess amount of exclamation points. More than three indicates you’re on the verge of smashing your head into the keyboard until it bleeds. This video is the most in-depth explanation of the world economic system, dollar hegemony and why we can’t reduce the deficit and why that won’t hurt the value of the dollar. It discusses the impact of American debt on the hollowing of industrial capacity and the impact on wages and lifestyle. We really can’t discuss...

The gov't debt will kill this Republic unless the drunken-sailor spending by Congress stops. The best chance to stop it: perhaps the line-item veto. The debt is now over $37 trillion dollars! To put that into perspective, suppose each dollar is a second in time. Then: $1 million = 11 days, 13 hours, 46 minutes, 40 seconds $1 billion = 31 years, 8 months, 18 days, 1 hour, 46 minutes, 40 seconds $1 trillion = 31,688 years, 8 months, 18 days, 1 hour, 46 minutes, 40 seconds Congress MUST stop spending.

ran’s economy is no longer merely experiencing high inflation; it is exhibiting the structural symptoms of a nation losing faith in its own currency and facing a shift in its monetary regime. Over the past year, a pattern has emerged across markets, policy decisions and price behavior pointing to the early stages of de facto dollarization. In April 2025, when a “five-dollar pizza” shop opened in Tehran’s affluent Niavaran neighborhood, many dismissed the fixed dollar price as a marketing gimmick. At the time, one pizza cost roughly 5 million rials, with inflation reportedly above 40%. Less than a year later,...

RAY DALIO SAYS THE MONETARY ORDER IS BREAKING DOWN AND FIAT IS NO LONGER A CENTRAL BANK ASSET. GOLD AND SILVER BECOME THE ANCHOR WHEN PAPER CONFIDENCE CRACKS.

The Kremlin has set out proposals that could see Russia embrace the dollar again as part of a wide-ranging economic partnership with the Trump administration, according to an internal Russian document reviewed by Bloomberg. Article content The high-level memo, which was drafted this year, details seven points where, in the Kremlin’s view, Russian and United States economic interests could converge following a deal to end the war in Ukraine. It sees the two countries working together to champion fossil fuels over greener alternatives as well as joint investments in natural gas, offshore oil and critical raw materials plus windfalls for...

High-flying gold and silver took a staggering hit in overnight trading with the precious metals losing roughly $6 trillion in just 30 minutes — as oil prices surge over fears over Iran. Gold tumbled back after hitting a new record at $5,595.47 an ounce as investors rushed to assets deemed safe, including silver, which reached its own record of $120.44 an ounce. The dollar steadied after losing ground most of this week. Gold declined more than five per cent and silver plunged more than eight per cent, while copper and nickel prices also fell, as traders reassessed the market. “The...

Gold and silver prices plunged Friday, as President Donald Trump’s nomination for the next chair of the Federal Reserve, Kevin Warsh, appeared to relieve concerns about the central bank’s independence and sent the dollar soaring. Spot silver was down 28% at $83.45 an ounce, trading near its lows of the day. Silver futures plummeted 31.4% to settle at $78.53, marking its worst day since March 1980. Meanwhile, spot gold shed around 9% to trade at $4,895.22 an ounce. Gold futures dropped 11.4% to settle at $4,745.10. The sharp moves down were initially triggered by reports of Warsh’s nomination. However, they...

Peter Schiff: ‘The dollar is going to collapse, the dollar is going to be replaced by Gold. We are headed for an economic crisis that will make the 2008 financial crisis seem like a Sunday school picnic.’

The value of the U.S. dollar plunged Tuesday, after President Donald Trump said he was not concerned about the currency's recent drop. "I think it’s great," Trump said, speaking to reporters in Iowa, when asked if the dollar's value had declined too much. “The dollar’s doing great.” Before Trump's comments, the benchmark ICE U.S. Dollar Index was already on pace to record its worst three-day drop since Trump's April 2025 "Liberation Day" tariff rollout. After Trump’s comments, the value of the dollar as measured by the index sharply extended its slide to as much as 1.5%, putting it on track...

Gold crossing $5,000 an ounce is not a technical breakout, a speculative frenzy, or a “risk-on trade.” It is a judgment. Silver pushing past $100 last week only reinforces the point. These prices are not expressions of optimism about growth or productivity. They are expressions of doubt: about currencies, about governments, and about the institutions charged with preserving economic stability. What makes this moment different is not simply the level of prices, but the speed and unanimity with which investors have arrived at them. Gold did not grind higher over a decade of slow erosion in confidence. It vaulted. Silver...

India’s holdings of US Treasuries have seen a drop, sliding to the lowest level in five years....In fact, most economies around the world are reducing reliance on the world's largest bond market...With gold and other assets accounting for a growing share of reserves...

The gold price is racing from one all-time high to the next. That’s good news for friends of the precious metal and bad news for anyone still hoping for a stabilization of global debt dynamics. Assuming the markets close out the year without major volatility, gold holders can look forward to an approximate 70 percent increase in value within a single year. This is remarkable -- not least because 2024 already ended with a 26 percent gain for the otherwise conservative asset class of precious metals. That amounts to a doubling of value in just two years -- a surge...

Geopolitics, diversification, and Fed easing contribute to the U.S. dollar’s downward pressures.While the so-called Santa Claus rally delivered year-end gains for stocks and precious metals, the U.S. dollar received a lump of coal to finish a not particularly strong 2025. The U.S. dollar index, a measure of the greenback against a weighted basket of currencies, is on track for its largest annual decline since 2003. This year, the index has dropped 10 percent, with nearly all of the damage occurring in the first half of 2025, when it tanked almost 11 percent. The alternative trade-weighted dollar index—a measure created by...

Quote of the week: “Inflation is when you pay fifteen dollars for the ten-dollar haircut you used to get for five dollars when you had hair. “ - Sam EwingThe ‘debasement trade’ has been gathering momentum all year, but it's really gathered momentum in the financial media lately. And then just to keep everyone on their toes, the gold price took a tumble on Tuesday. So what is the debasement trade? Is it real, and should you be following it?In this piece, we’ll unpack what debasement really means, why it’s driving markets today, and how to think about real assets,...

@RandPaul Like I told @cherylcasone on @MorningsMaria, Republicans ran against Biden’s reckless spending… then adopted his spending levels. I won’t. $38 trillion in debt isn’t sustainable. It’s a threat to our economy and our dollar. I’ll keep voting no until Washington gets serious about balancing the budget.

As the national debate intensifies over the solvency of Social Security, Truth in Accounting (TIA) is urging policymakers and the public to look deeper: beyond “trust fund” projections and into the silent erosion of benefits through inflation. TIA board member Chuck Chokel has compiled a sobering analysis of the dollar’s decline over three overlapping 50-year periods. His findings illustrate that even if Social Security checks keep coming, their purchasing power has steadily—and dramatically—shrunk: 1925–1975: $100 in 1925 had the purchasing power of $33.21 in 1975, representing a 67% decrease in purchasing power. 1950–2000: $100 in 1950 was worth just $13.92...

The short answer is: NO. The real answer is: It's slowly losing value.

From Von Greyerz Gold, Zurich Friday, August 15, 2025 In an informal yet compelling conversation, two veterans of the precious metals space -- Egon von Greyerz and James Turk -- bring needed financial and historical perspective to evolving (and eerily foreseeable) cracks in the global financial system. They reminisce upon a discussion they enjoyed nearly 15 years prior. Not surprisingly, much of what was discussed and warned about then (currency debasement, trapped banks, dangerous credit expansion, and rising gold) is playing out dramatically in real-time today. ... Dispatch continues below ... Turk, having equally foresaw the U.S. dollar's direct march...