Although they are heavily promoted, equities are hardly superior to gold even over long periods of time; in fact, gold has been superior over the last 20 years. Greater differences emerge when trading cycles, where the ratios shift. The current cycle speaks to large equity losses ahead as dividend yields are very low and stocks are held up because of the global money glut.

Moral and ethical values are gone and crime is rampant. This is not new in history and regularly happens at the end of major eras or cycles. This happened for example at the end of the Roman Empire as Rome disintegrated economically and morally. Decadence was rampant then as it is today. So were debts and deficits.

Regardless of whether the new monetary system is tied to digital currencies or not, there is no escaping the spiral of money printing and deficits that has gripped most of the world, and so a disorderly collapse is likely.

Egon von Greyerz and Matthew Piepenburg address gold’s recent “flash crash” in the context of technicals, fundamentals, and good ol’ fashioned price manipulation from the bullion banks. Toward this end, Egon gives careful attention to the technical indicators and their bullish trends/confirmations while Matthew digs deeper under the hood to reveal the relationship between Basel III regs, bullion bank gold shortages and the motives behind gold’s recent price decline.

In a recent episode of The Keiser Report, Egon von Greyerz and Max Keiser discuss the 50th anniversary of the demise of Bretton Woods, Nixon suspending the dollar's convertibility into gold, "transitory" inflation, how stock and bond markets are pricing in inflation expectations, and the ominous future of the dollar and other fiat currencies.

The beginning of the end of the current monetary system started exactly 50 years ago. In the next few years the world will experience the end of the end of another failed experiment of unlimited debt creation and fake fiat money. Measured in collapsing paper money, gold and silver will reach unthinkable levels.

Ronnie Stoeferle and Egon von Greyerz question why, despite explosive money printing and obvious inflation, gold has not long since been quoted much, much higher. How long will it take for gold to reflect inflation and astronomical money creation and break through the long overdue price forecasts of well over USD 10,000 per ounce?

Gold is reflecting the devaluation of paper money, but so far it is not doing so. Use the opportunity, because it will live up to its role.

Some of the brightest minds in finance, Grant Williams, Egon von Greyerz, and Ronnie Stoeferle discuss fiscal policy, the "crack-up boom," inflation, liquidity, and of course gold and silver in these highlights from a recent discussion.

In the short term, the paper gold market certainly harms the only genuine gold market which is physical. But artificial markets or instruments have never survived in history. Just look at the fact that every fiat currency in history which has failed. And so will paper gold. It is only a matter of time.

With the foregoing risks at play, the best tactics for the current economic pitch involve longer-term preparation, a respect for historical lessons and a fundamental recognition that further and inevitable monetary and fiscal expansion can only mean further currency debasement and hence the longer-term re-pricing (i.e., rise) in gold valuation.

On the one hand gold signifies stability, wealth and the only currency that has survived in history and maintained its purchasing power. That is why governments around the world allegedly hold 34,000 tonnes of it currently valued at $2 trillion. On the other hand governments hate gold since it reveals their total mismanagement of the economy.

Real interest rates are negative in the U.S. across all maturities, which is in favor of gold. While debt is exploding and depreciating, the ratio of debt to GDP is also rising. There will be no return to normalcy. Collapse is inevitable when the paper money created loses its effect. And it will drag the banks into the abyss, which is why they want to strengthen them first with Basel III.

Investing successfully is primarily about managing risk rather than maximising profits. As we reach the end of the biggest bull market in history, investors feel so secure that risk has become an irrelevance.

The destruction of money is now accelerating in parallel with the deficit and debt expansion. This is the typical course of events for the end game.

Egon von Greyerz and Matthew Piepenburg address the current and ever-evolving inflation narrative as well as its inter-relationship with interest rates. This relationship has a direct impact upon gold pricing in a global backdrop of rising and unsustainable debt levels.

Holding physical gold is like putting your money on black on a roulette table with only black numbers. You know that you will win every time as history proves with 100% certainty that governments will continue to destroy the currency and thus the economy.

Asset price inflation is now spreading to everyday goods as the velocity of money in circulation increases, in some cases exacerbated by artificially created shortages. It looks as if we have to prepare for shrinking economies and inflation. In this mix, more and more institutional investors are recognizing the need to diversify their portfolios with gold as a stable currency and inflation hedge.

As technological developments and markets go parabolic, we observe many market “experts”, even intelligent ones, forecasting that we are now in an exponential economic era. Thus many believe that this will go on forever. This is the typical attitude at market and economic tops and guarantees that this will not end well!

Gold and silver have not at all reflected the massive creation of money in the last 50 years. That catchup phase is likely to start very soon based on both fundamentals and technicals. The upside potential for gold and silver is multiples of the current prices and that is at today’s price levels. Hyperinflation could take the metals to unfathomable heights.