Inflation - forget about it!

What's most important in news? Is it that Scotland's national football team has finally got a place in the next world cup after a three-decade absence? Or that Donald Trump decided to be nice to Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, despite the CIA recording its 'high confidence' that Mohammed ordered the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi?

We got all of these snippets on Wednesday 19 November. We also got news about the latest inflation figures in the UK. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) told us that headline consumer price inflation (CPI) dropped in October to 3.6%/year. But food inflation actually rose, to 4.9%/year, against 4.5% in September.

No news outlets however decided to delve into history, which was a pity. If they had dived back 58 years to 1967 they would have been reminded that the Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson had on that year's 19 November defended his devaluation of the Pound from $2.80 to $2.40, a cut of slightly more than 14%. Wilson said the devaluation would enable Britain to "break out from the straitjacket" of boom and bust economics. It did not mean the Pound "in your pocket or purse or in your bank, has been devalued" he said - an outright lie. At the height of the US Civil War in 1864 one Pound was briefly worth $9.97.

Still straitjacketed

Wilson's mendacity followed weeks of feverish speculation about what the government would do to shore up Britain's failing economy. Its weak exports and flagging industry bear a striking resemblance to today's UK economy. Too many imports, not enough exports, inflation. Britons have also been subjected to another burst of feverish speculation. Next week's government budget is unlikely to calm markets or pacify individuals.

Like America's central bank - the Federal Reserve - the Bank of England (BoE) has an inflation rate target of 2%. The government expects the BoE to achieve that target in the "medium term", which usually means within a few years. Families are already struggling to cope with rising prices.

The UK's CPI inflation rate

Over the past five years prices have risen almost 30% in the UK. Responsibility for this is widely disputed but the government has indulged in money printing since 2009 through its Quantitative Easing (QE) program, pumping into the economy more than $1 trillion, about a third of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). The US also went in for QE, printing more than $3 trillion in 2020 alone.

This staggering amount of money creation was repeated in various ways around the world. It's no longer mentioned or even discussed by politicians. As for mainstream news outlets, they are short-termist and fixated on the latest spasms such as Scotland's football team or Taylor Swift's newest album.

Yet the systematic debauchery of fiat money that has been wrought has a much greater impact on our lives. It's more important than war, although that's hard to grasp.

That's why we need gold

Political corruption, personal failings, the jettisoning of conventional morality - all such things are abhorrent and sadly always with us. Aside from the specific misdemeanors though there is a bigger fault - and that's the obscuring of the heart of the matter.

The heart of the matter when it comes to money and the preservation of one's assets is that fiat currency - all fiat currencies - is counterfeit. True money cannot be a matter of government decree. Fiat currencies only pretend to a status they can never achieve. They can never achieve stability of value because they all are subject to the whims of governments. Central banks are meant to achieve stability yet struggle to do so because they fight to maintain a supposed fictional authority.

The failures of central banks and the fiat currency they supposedly protect will always with us. Thankfully we have some form of money that is outside their - or anyone's - control. Gold.

For centuries gold has maintained its value, has maintained its status, has given its holders a way of protecting themselves from the vagaries of wars, corruptions, conflicts, plagues, pests. And now, thanks to the digital age that has enabled the development of Glint, gold has returned to its true self - as money that can be used in our daily life. Escape the trivial - join the gold revolution!

For UK clients: At Glint, we make every effort to demonstrate a balanced conversation between gold, silver, crypto and fiat currencies when it comes to purchasing power and, while we strongly believe that gold is the fairest and most reliable currency on the planet, we need to point out that it isn’t 100% risk free. While we have seen a steady increase over time, the value of gold can fall, which means that its purchasing power can also decline.

For US clients: Graphic representations of value are for illustrative purposes only. The Glint debt card is issued by Sutton Bank, member FDIC. The sale, purchase and storage of precious metals are offered by Glint and not Sutton Bank. Your investment in precious metals through Glint is

·        Not insured by the FDIC.

·        Not a deposit or other obligation of, or guaranteed by, Sutton Bank.

·        Subject to investment risks, including the possible risk of loss of the principal amount invested.

All investments involve risk, including possible loss of principal. The value of precious metals is affected by many economic factors, including but not limited to the current market price, demand, perceived scarcity, and quality of the precious metal. Precious metals can increase or decrease in value. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. As such, investing in precious metals may not be suitable for everyone.