Andrew Hoffman: As Fiat Currencies Collapse Around the World, Gold’s Shine Brightens
from The Daily Bell:
Daily Bell: Hi, Andy. One reason for having you back at the beginning of the year is because gold is starting to do very well against fiat currencies. Or to put it another way, fiat is failing fast while gold retains its value. Can you summarize what’s happened in the markets since the beginning of the year? Did you suspect that gold was on the launching pad relative to fiat last year?
Andy Hoffman: As a rule, I don’t predict timing, as my Wall Street days are now 11 years behind me. Crazy, how time passes. No, my role as marketing director of a bullion dealer is simply to point out the fundamentals, of why gold and silver are the world’s best long-term stores of value and “insurance policies” against the very things that are destroying the world today. That said, the “mosaic” of developments I watch has all but screamed that the “end game” has arrived for some time. And consequently, no one has been more vocal in his or her belief that the next major crisis – and precious metals explosion – had morphed from inevitable to imminent.
Daily Bell: Has gold bottomed against the dollar? Or more accurately, has the dollar stopped rising? Is the future down for the dollar against gold and why?
Andy Hoffman: Gold has not “done” anything except sit inertly, watching fiat currencies destroy themselves at its altar, one by one
Now that this has occurred, it will be the Fed seeking to “win” the final currency war, by accelerating its debauchery of the dollar – as evidenced by Janet Yellen, as I predicted she would, discussing the possibility of negative interest rates at her congressional presentation last week. Yes, it’s safe to say gold has bottomed in U.S. dollars, although, as noted above, it bottomed against essentially all other currencies over the past 24 months.
Daily Bell: You believe there is price suppression and has been all along. Is that becoming ineffective? Last time you said price suppression would never cease.
Andy Hoffman: Yes, I said it would never cease. But I most certainly didn’t say it would succeed. Which, given that prices have surged in nations where 90% of the world’s population resides, is clear evidence that it is failing. And now that it’s rising anew in dollars, the suppression is clearly dying.
Daily Bell: Is demand driving gold – and why not versus a few years ago?
Andy Hoffman: Global demand was at a record high in 2011, when U.S. dollar-based gold and silver prices last peaked. However, it is far higher today – which shows you just how suppressed paper prices have been and, subsequently, how much physical gold was covertly offloaded to hold paper prices down. Going forward, the global demand record set in 2015 will appear inconsequential compared to what’s coming – at a time when supply is shrinking, and above-ground inventories bordering on non-existent, in terms of what’s actually available for sale.
