You might be surprised to know that the government is facing yet another shutdown at the stroke of midnight on September 30. A lot of people might be thinking two things: First— “again?” And second— what about the “One Big Beautiful Bill”? The One Big Beautiful Bill, signed into law on July 4, did not, in fact, contain all the necessary resolutions to fund the government for the next fiscal year (which starts on October 1). As a result, Congress still needs to pass 12 appropriations bills in order to avoid a shutdown at the stroke of midnight on September 30. From what we can tell, the Trump administration seems to be pushing for spending cuts this time around, which is great. I sincerely hope they are successful, because the country desperately needs fiscal restraint. But at this point, it’s up to Congress—and that’s far from a foregone conclusion. The most likely scenario is they’ll just punt any real decision-making and instead pass a stopgap continuing resolution that will merely add to the deficit. In short, America will remain on its current trajectory—which the Congressional Budget Office estimates about $25 trillion in additional deficit spending over the next ten years. This is why so many foreign governments and central banks are aggressively working to establish some kind of alternative to the US dollar as the global reserve currency. Most likely, they won’t be very successful—simply because nobody trusts the Chinese or the Russians. India has far too many capital controls. So does Brazil. And as large as these countries may be in combined economic power, they have completely different economic priorities. Plus they don’t even trust one other. So the prospect of some “BRICS dollar” emerging as a serious competitor to the US dollar’s reserve status is laughable. But there actually is a serious competitor already—and that’s gold. The reason why is simple: no single country controls gold. There’s no supranational agency that can regulate the gold price. Gold is a free market, all about supply and demand, and it happens to be an asset nearly every central bank on the planet already owns. This is the reason why gold has surged to an all-time high—because foreign central banks just keep buying so much of it. And they’re doing it to reduce their exposure to the US dollar, and to reduce the hold and power the US government has over them. We think this trend is absolutely going to continue. And that’s why we’re still in the early days of this gold boom. In today’s podcast, we discuss all this, as well as: The global sell-off of US Treasuries and the pivot by foreign central banks toward gold. Why foreign governments and central banks now own more gold than US Treasuries for the first time in decades. Historical lessons—from the Byzantine empire to Venetian gold ducats—on what happens when trust in a currency breaks down. How central banks are also eyeing platinum and strategic assets as alternatives to the dollar. Why well-managed gold and silver producers could deliver outsized returns compared to the metals themselves. How owning gold today is a hedge against US fiscal chaos and a way to offset the increased costs of inflation. Why we’re still in the early innings of a gold bull market, even with prices already at record highs. You can listen to the full podcast here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDiueo1tfc4 Podcast transcript is available to you here.
