The top 10 facts in the 2023 #IGWT report.
A thread:
1. If the U.S debt ceiling is raised again, it will be the 79th increase since 1960, the 21st since 2000, and the 30th under a Democratic president. Republican Presidents have raised the debt ceiling 49 times. 1/
2. Gold, you are the apple of my eye… in terms of purchasing power! In 2007, the first iPhone cost $599 or the equivalent of 0.92 ounces of gold. Fifteen years later, only 0.75 ounces of gold are due for the iPhone 14 Pro, which cost $1,499 at its launch in September 2022. 2/
3. Despite US equities becoming more undervalued in the last year (Shiller P/E ratio 38.3 in 2021 vs 2022’s figure of 28.3), gold is still historically undervalued compared to US equities. The Gold/S&P 500 ratio of 0.49 is significantly lower than the long term average of 1.66 3/
4. Miners profit from prioritizing people and planet! A study by the WGC revealed that companies with the highest community scores achieved a total shareholder return of 63%, compared to just 14% for those with the lowest scores. For more, see page 333 of the report. 4/
5. 2022 saw the highest gold buying by central banks on record, i.e., since 1950, when the WGC started its records. Buying reached 1136t, with Türkiye reporting the largest purchases, adding 148t to its reserves. 5/
6. De-dollarization is a reality: Adjusting for FX movements, USD has lost about 11% of its market share since 2016 and 2x that amount since 2008. USD’s share of global currency reserves dropped to only 58% in 2022 from a share of 73% in 2001. 6/
7. After adding 128 tonnes of gold reserves over a six month period between November 2022 and April 2023, the PBoC’s gold reserves now officially stand at 2,076 tonnes. Jan Nieuwenhuijs estimates this amount could be twice as much at 4,400 tonnes of gold. 7/
8. Factoring in gold smuggling of 150–200 tonnes per year for the last 20 years, total gold stock in private hands in India amounts to 31,000–32,000 tonnes - more than the combined gold holdings of the top 27 central bank gold holders in the world! 8/
9. Silver inventories declined in 2022 by 430.9Moz from their end-2020 peak. This is equivalent to more than half of annual mine production, and also more than half of the inventories held in London vaults offering custodian services, as reported by the LBMA. 9/
10. Commodities are historically undervalued: Today the S&P GSCI is below 50, and each time it dropped below this level (1929, the late 1960s, and the late 1990s), a substantial commodities bull market followed. 10/
Gold as International Reserves: A Barbarous Relic No More?
This is the title of a working paper released by the IMF on the 27th of Jan 2023.
We summarized their findings for you below: 1/
In the past, the IMF considered gold to be a "barbarous relic" and advocated for its replacement with a more modern and flexible reserve asset, such as its own Special Drawing Rights (SDRs). However, in recent years, the IMF has changed its stance on gold.
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They now recognise the importance of gold in a diversified international reserve portfolio and the organisation now allows its member countries to hold gold as part of their official foreign exchange reserves.
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We list the top 5 worst cases of hyperinflation in history!
Let the countdown begin!👇 1/
#5 The Greek Hyperinflation of 1941-1944: Greece experienced a severe episode of hyperinflation during the German occupation in World War II. The inflation rate reached an estimated 50% per month, causing widespread poverty and social unrest.
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#4 The Zimbabwean Hyperinflation of 2007-2008: Zimbabwe experienced severe hyperinflation in the late 2000s. The inflation rate reached an estimated 79.6b percent per year, causing the country's currency to become worthless and leading to widespread poverty and social unrest. 3/
If accepted, the new proposed BRICS members would create an entity with a GDP 30% larger than the United States, over 50% of the global population and in control of 60% of global gas reserves.
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"China is proactively writing a new set of rules, creating a new type of globalization with new institutions like the
Belt and Road Initiative, BRICS+, and the SCO."
One World, Two Systems.
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Mises describes the world on a gold standard, enjoy:
"The gold standard was the world standard of the age of capitalism, increasing welfare, liberty, and democracy, both political and economic.
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In the eyes of the free traders its main eminence was precisely the fact that it was an international standard as required by international trade and the transactions of the international money and capital market.
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It was the medium of exchange by means of which Western industrialism and Western capital had borne Western civilisation into the remotest parts of the earth's surface, everywhere destroying the fetters of age-old prejudices and superstitions, sowing the seeds...
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At #IGWT we have been writing about de-dollarization for a number of years. This topic is often misunderstood and is a theme playing out over decades, not years. 1/
We regard Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Saudi Arabia for the China-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit a pivotal moment in this storyline.
What is the GCC, what are they planning and why is it important?
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The GCC member countries are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Together, the GCC countries deliver more than 25% of the world's total crude oil exports, with Saudi Arabia alone accounting for 16.5% of worldwide crude exports in 2001
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In the late 1800s, most bank notes were redeemable for gold at par value. This means that you could take a bank note to the issuing bank and they would give you gold in return for the note. Responsible banks would take in gold and issue notes for the amount of gold deposited.
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In the case that someone would deposit their gold for a longer period, without demanding notes, a bank could lend the deposited money out to a third party, demanding interest from the lender, paying interest to the depositor and keeping a % as profit.
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