We have previously reported at Goldcoin.org in Chinese queue at malls to beat Bernanke’s inflation with gold that the a Chinese Gold rush is underway from investors who are looking to beat inflation and devaluing currencies by buying and hoarding gold bullion and gold coins.

In January 2010, China recorded an inflation rate of 1.5%. But just 12 months later, the rate of Chinese inflation has climbed to 4.9%.

Rising inflation has sent food and property prices in China skyrocketing.

The price of food in China has increased 10.3% on an annual basis. The price of grain rose 15.1% and fruit prices were up 34.8% since January of last year.

Chinese inflation has been fuelled by an economic stimulus during the financial crisis two years ago of $585 which has resulted in excesses of liquidity in the economy.

The Chinese Government has tried to curb the inflation with measures such as raising interest rates several times and tightening lending requirements but so far this hasn’t worked. Even worse is the fear sweeping through the Chinese economy that inflation could go out of control and even lead to hyperinflation.

This has already prompted Chinese citizens to buy gold and their appetite for the yellow metal is insatiable.

This trend is not only set to increase but possibly explode into action following recent reports that the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) is actively recommending that over 1 Billion Chinese citizens buy gold as a way of preserving and protecting their wealth against inflation, economic crisis and the falling values of major currencies .

This recommendation was given in the Financial Markets Review from the PBOC and its publication coincided with the decline of several major currencies against the value of gold notably, the Swiss Franc fell 2.5%, The Japanese Yen 2%, The Pound Sterling 2% and of course the US Dollar  which fell 1%.

Chinese buy almost half the Gold produced in the world

According to the gold-specialising Swiss Bank UBS the Chinese demand for gold in the first 2 months of 2011 exceeded  7.05 Million ounces.

This unbelievable demand is the equivalent of 47% of all gold produced in the world during the same period. So the Chinese are buying almost half of the world’s gold production.

If this continues then the Chinese are set to buy in excess of 42.3 Million Ounces of Gold this year!

To put this quantity into context it is more gold than China’s Central Bank officially stores in its reserves.

The Financial Times recently quoted a senior executive at the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China ICBC, who spoke of the “voracious” appetite for gold in China…

China’s largest bank started a physically-backed gold savings account in December with the World Gold Council. Account openings have already surpassed 1 million, with more than 12 tonnes of gold already stored on behalf of investors.

Zhou Ming, deputy head of ICBC’s precious metals department, said the nation’s largest bank sold nearly 250,000 ounces of physical gold in January — the equivalent of 50% of all the bullion ICBC sold last year.

Added to this is the continuing diversification out of Forex by the People’s Bank of China into gold and other precious metals. They have around $3 Trillion which they would like to change because the weakening dollar is eroding its real value. How much gold will they need for $3 Trillion?

We know that China has been accumulating gold surreptitiously by buying up its own domestic production.

This suggests that increasing gold production was part of a long-term strategic plan to become a global leader in gold investments among governments.

The World Gold Council even reported:

Some market participants believe that China may also be continuing to buy local mine production, which it has done regularly in the past. There is certainly no shortage of experts, both domestic and from overseas, advising China to do so.

The World Gold Council estimates China’s gold demand could double in 10 years as more investors embrace precious metals.

But even in the short term, the expected demand for gold in China over the coming month will be enough to put significant strain on global supplies.

According to Tom Bulford  “China has spent the last decade buying every ounce of gold it can lay its hands on.

In fact, the Chinese have increased their deposits by 1,054 tonnes since 2001.

That’s 76% more than it was buying just a decade ago!

And it’s not just the Government we’re talking about here.

Ever since private gold ownership was legalised in China…and the Shanghai Gold Exchange opened – regular Chinese citizens have also started buying up gold in a BIG way”.

Quite simply, the Chinese seem to want to buy ANYTHING gold…

…gold coins…gold bullion…even foreign gold miners.

In fact, according to Want China Times…

“Chinese state-owned gold miner China National Gold Group announced… that it will step up overseas mergers and acquisitions in an effort to increase its gold stockpiles by 100 tonnes this year.”

Chinese production figures

China Produced $35 Billion in Gold in 2010

According to China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, gross output from domestic production increased 67% to 230 billion yuan ($35 billion) in 2010.

Of this, China’s gold industry earned 5 billion yuan ($3.8 billion) in profit — 78% more than in the previous year.

China’s gold mines produced 9.9 million ounces of gold in 2010 — an increase of 7% over 2009.

Meanwhile, total domestic gold output grew 9% to 12.0 million ounces. (source WGC)

India is also encouraging Gold acquisition

Traditionally there has always been a strong demand for gold in India  with its specific seasonal demands for weddings and a cultural attachment to jewellery. However, they are also strengthening demand in Asia which is fast becoming the most important Continent for gold investment.  Gold is selling extremely well to the ordinary citizens looking for wealth protection and preservation. There are over 460 Post Offices that sell gold direct to the people. India also has public companies that offer credit to anyone wishing to purchase gold – in other words you can get a loan to buy gold!

This incredible demand throughout Asia is sure to impact the price of gold which may not have been factored in to the so-called expert calculations/ predictions/guesses.

Gold Price set to go skyward with Asian demand and World events

Similarly there are other significant factors that cannot have previously been factored in to annual gold price predictions such as;

• The continuing European Sovereign debt crisis with Portugal the latest Eurozone country in difficulty,
• The on-going Japanese catastrophe following the Earthquake, Tsunami and nuclear crisis,
• The popular uprisings in North Africa and around the Middle East with Syria and Yemen on the brink and the conflict in Libya worsening by the day. This has drawn military (and therefore financial)  resources from France, the UK and the US which have their own deficit problems and now has involved NATO countries.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to see how all of this can be paid for or accommodated in a World Economy already faltering.

It is no wonder that the Chinese are hedging against another crisis and with their ever increasing hoards of gold they are aiming to back the Yuan with gold and ultimately replace the Dollar as the world’s reserve currency.

We are heading for a spot of $1500 within weeks – and then…..$3000+

In view of the colossal demands for gold already discussed, the possible collapse of the dollar and the unknown outcomes of other world events a crisis bigger than 2008 looms large and we cannot predict which event will trigger it but be sure that it will happen. When it does make sure you have copied the Chinese and secured your wealth in the only safe haven for the crisis ahead. Buy Gold and buy now before the price takes off exponentially surpassing $2000 and even £3000 an ounce before the end of the year. The worthless dollar, hyperinflation, extraordinary demand and debt crisis dictate the course of gold to re-establish itself as the only real measure of currency and wealth. When the dust settles and re-evaluations have been made just pray you have gold as it will be worth upwards of $3000 an ounce.

If the fat finger flash crash of 2010 taught us anything, it’s that our financial markets aren’t as sound and secure as officials want us to believe. With heavy leverage, computer trading platforms, financial secrecy laws, and the unabashed greed that pervades the halls of international financial centres, the entire global marketplace is susceptible to manipulation. The official post-mortem on the 2008 downturn suggests that the economic collapse, which started with rising oil prices and a sell-off in stocks, was caused by, among other factors, an over-leveraged and over-insured financial system with the culprit being an alphabet soup of financial instruments like Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS) and Credit Default Swaps (CDS).

As is the case with the lone gunman who shot Kennedy and the two planes that brought down the towers, the investigations surrounding the financial crisis were expedited, streamlined and have been officially closed.
A recent report from an independent contracting firm, however, warns that the events behind the financial crisis of 2008 and our economic woes today should not be underestimated and simply dismissed as having been a one-off event.

Evidence outlined in a Pentagon contractor report suggests that financial subversion carried out by unknown parties, such as terrorists or hostile nations, contributed to the 2008 economic crash by covertly using vulnerabilities in the U.S. financial system.
The unclassified 2009 report “Economic Warfare: Risks and Responses” by financial analyst Kevin D. Freeman, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Times, states that “a three-phased attack was planned and is in the process against the United States economy.”
While economic analysts and a final report from the federal government’s Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission blame the crash on such economic factors as high-risk mortgage lending practices and poor federal regulation and supervision, the Pentagon contractor adds a new element: “outside forces,” a factor the commission did not examine.
Regardless of the report’s findings, U.S. officials and outside analysts said the Pentagon, the Treasury Department and U.S. intelligence agencies are not aggressively studying the threats to the United States posed by economic warfare and financial terrorism.
“Nobody wants to go there,” one official said.

In a previous report titled When China Pulls the Peg, Cardiac Arrest Will Follow in the USA we opined that the US, China and other nations are involved in economic warfare as a matter of policy. While diplomats enjoy State Dinners, luxurious travel and smile for the cameras, behind the scenes is a tug of war where entire populations of people, numbering in the billions of souls, are affected by negotiations and trade agreements. In the case of China, one must have their head in the sand to believe they are not actively competing on the economic battlefield. Not only do they have a direct influence on the future of the US dollar, but they have spent the better part of the last three decades mobilizing their labor force by significantly undermining US trade influence. The effect on the US economy is clear. While the Chinese grew their economy, they set into motion a series of events that have begun to impoverish the middle class in America. The result is fewer jobs and an indebted social system on the brink of collapse.
This did not happen by chance. It is by design.

“This is the ‘end game’ if the goal is to destroy America,” Mr. Freeman said, noting that in his view China’s military “has been advocating the potential for an economic attack on the U.S. for 12 years or longer as evidenced by the publication of the book Unrestricted Warfare in 1999.”

According to the report, elements within China, Russia, middle east oil producers and other interested parties may, separately or in unison, be actively pursuing policies and actions that are specifically designed to collapse the US economy.

“The preponderance of evidence that cannot be easily dismissed demands a thorough and immediate study be commenced,” the report says. “Ignoring the likelihood of this very real threat ensures a catastrophic event.”
The report concluded that the evidence of an attack is strong enough that “financial terrorism may have cost the global economy as much as $50 trillion.”

The Pentagon report indicates that there is a strong likelihood that whoever is behind the machinations is operating under a three phase approach. The first phase of the attack was the build up of excessive leverage and credit in asset markets, real estate and commodities. The second phase was the crash we experienced in 2008 and early 2009. International hedge funds and financial firms, some of which may be direct extensions of certain governments and operating under international secrecy provisions, initiated sell offs through the use of techniques like “naked short selling” and traditional “bear raids.” Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns were wiped out and went down as the first casualties of phase two.

Since March of 2009 the economy has seemingly been growing, at least that’s what we’ve been told in official government memorandums and mainstream financial analysis. As evidenced by a rising stock market, the economy is well on it’s way to recovering the losses that occurred between 2007 and 2009.

While everything may seem fine to most Americans, including our elected officials and financial gurus, according to the threat assessment discussed in the Pentagon report, the powers-that-be who were responsible for the first two phases of the attack against our economic and financial system are now actively in the process of implementing and executing Phase III:

“Based on recent global market activity, it appears that the predicted Phase III may be underway right now.”
The third phase is what Mr Freeman states in the report was the main source of the economic system’s vulnerability. “We have taken on massive public debt as the government was the only party who could access capital markets in late 2008 and early 2009,” he said, placing the U.S. dollar’s global reserve currency status at grave risk.

The end-game is approaching, and as we’ve suggested in previous commentary, it is predicated on excessive government leverage, spending and monetization. The United States may very well be in the final bubble, one that trend forecaster Gerald Celente has referred to as the bailout bubble.

The formation of the final bubble, if it were a planned event, would have first required the first two phases of the attack as outlined in the report. Build up the leverage in the private sector, then completely crash it. This strategy necessitated a political response from the President, Congress and all manner of financial regulators.

As we saw in 2008, the strategy worked perfectly. Within days of the stock market collapse Presidential candidates were pausing their campaigns, Congress was having emergency meetings, and the Secretary of the Treasury threatened that there would be tanks in the streets if something wasn’t done. The response, of course, is well known and has led to tens of trillions of dollars in more debt in an attempt to stabilize the economy.

As the theorized Phase III continues to play out, we are likely to see more intervention in the form of crisis spending and quantitative easing. This continued printing of money is the Achilles’ heel. In just the last two years, because most global investors have begun shying away from US debt instruments like Treasuries, it is our very own Federal Reserve, a private banking conglomerate that is the number one buyer of US debt. The Chinese are already cutting back on their investment. And in due time, when the time is right, the Chinese simply have to say “no more,” at which point the government bailout bubble will burst.

Once in motion, there will be no more magic bullets for the Federal Reserve, Treasury Department, Congress or the President. We’ll have crossed the Rubicon.

What it will look like on the other side is anyone’s guess, but it could be that magic financial bullets get replaced with lead and missiles, as is usually the case when economies of nations are destroyed.
While US officials may not be overtly discussing economic warfare, one thing is for sure, and that is that the Pentagon and Military are Actively War Gaming ‘Large Scale Economic Breakdown’ and ‘Civil Unrest’. Army game theorists have spent time on financial exchanges with traders attempting to learn how an economic attack could be identified and are reportedly working on preventing such a possibility.

It’s our view, however, that if military and intelligence agencies are just now getting on board with the idea of economic warfare, it may very well be too late. If those who would bring down the US and global financial systems, be they foreign governments or shadow elements operating outside of traditional national boundaries, are actively engaged in “Phase III,” then it is likely that such an attack cannot be prevented – only managed and mitigated.

If this most recent report is accurate in its assessment, the only thing left for the average American at this point is to prepare for an imminent catastrophic shock and awe that will destroy life in America as we have come to know it.
Author: Mac Slavo from SHTFPlan

Planning for a crisis and survival means protecting wealth in universally accepted tangible assets such as Gold Sovereigns or other gold coins. Paper money will only keep you warm for a short time as it burns to make a fire. Gold has proved throughout history to be a means of survival through crisis and even wars. Click here for more.

We need to understand the difference between money and currency as one is real and the other a promise.  Money can be defined as a medium of exchange and a store of value and until fairly recent times was in fact coins made out of precious metal with an intrinsic value or for ease of use, notes backed by precious metal.

Money, when considered as the fruit of many years’ industry, as the reward of labor, sweat and toil, as the widow’s dowry and children’s portion, and as the means of procuring the necessaries and alleviating the afflictions of life, and making old age a scene of rest, has something in it sacred that is not to be sported with, or trusted to the airy bubble of paper currency. Thomas Paine (1737 – 1809)

Currency is still a medium of exchange but is not a store of value as it only derives its value by government degree or “fiat”. It’s value is based on the issuing the authority’s guarantee to pay the stated (face) amount on demand, and not on any intrinsic worth or extrinsic backing. All national currencies in circulation, issued and managed by the respective central banks, are fiat currencies.

The problem is that fiat currency runs the risk of central bankers printing too much and causing large inflation or worse. The more that is printed the more the currency is debased just as the Fed is doing now with the dollar. This has been going on for decades with central banks indiscriminately creating money to cover expenditure and ever increasing debt.  There are examples throughout history and in the 20^th Century most of us are aware that in Germany in 1923 it would take a barrow load of Deutschmarks to buy a loaf of bread but an ounce of gold could buy a reasonable house and one dollar was worth 4 trillion marks

This irresponsible printing of money has eaten away at the value of the world’s reserve currency the USD dollar and dollar based assets, to such an extent that they have lost 82% of value since 1971, the year the US cut links with the gold standard. The GBP has fared even worse that the USD losing around 85% of value since 1971.   There are many illustrations of then and now and how owning gold with intrinsic value would have more purchasing pro rata than currency. E.g the latest model Cadillac Eldorado would have taken 180 ounces of gold at $42.02 to pay the showroom price of $7,546. This same 180 ounces is now worth over $200k and would buy two Cadillac convertibles with enough left over to fuel to first service. In the UK an average family car cost £1000 around 60 oz of gold and now the same would cost £17000 around 23 oz of gold. The 60 ounces would have bought the same family car for you a sports car for your wife and a hatchback for your son or daughter. Gold retains its purchasing power year after year.

Not long ago the gold standard imposed monetary discipline on countries as they had to hold enough gold to cover the money in circulation but this all changed with the Jamaica agreement in 1971 when the decision was taken by President Nixon on the 15th August 1971 to suspend the direct convertibility of dollars into gold, the keystone of the financial system created in July 1944 (the Bretton Woods Agreement).  On the 1st October 1971 the general assembly of the IMF asked the board of trustees to study and propose a comprehensive reform.  This would be adopted by member States during a meeting held in Kingston (Jamaica) on the 7th and 8th January 1976, and included a set of provisions which put an end to the reign of gold.  The US money supply in 1971 was $776 billion and quickly became an upward curve which rose dramatically over the last decade where the US money supply doubled from below $7 trillion to $14.3 trillion indicating that spending is out of control.

What is the effect as the US and other governments including the UK go on this spending spree. It means that the risk of sovereign debt default becomes very high indeed. We have already seen Iceland’s debt rise to 7 times GDP and then go into financial melt down and economic depression. This is a warning and recently Greece has been the sick man of the Euro world  with its debt forecast to reach 130% of GDP, its credit rating cut, the country in turmoil and it has placed pressure on the Euro itself.  The UK has not reached that level yet, but we are heading that way with debt estimated to be 65% of GDP this year and a forecast for 78% by 2015.  Japan the world’s second largest economy has debt of twice its GDP but continues to spend. In the Euro zone Spain, Italy, Portugal former Eastern European countries all face serious financial issues.

Most worrying is that the US, whose dollar is still the world’s reserve currency, has debts of 100% of GDP and budget deficits over the next few years will send that figure soaring. Their solution instead of cutting expenditures is create more fiat currency which will inevitably lead to devaluation of the dollar.  There are already moves afoot to seek alternatives lead by Russia and China and gold has featured in their strategies. China’s long term goal is to dominate financially and replace the US and they are currently playing a political game as they have up to 2 trillion in dollar assets that they do not want to destroy but off load at the best value.

It comes as no surprise that both China and Russia are increasing their gold reserves along with India who recently bough 200 tonnes from the IMF to back its financial commitments. China is now the worlds largest producer of gold and has recently surpassed India as the worlds greatest consumer and actively encourage their citizens to put part of their savings into gold.  China has a predicament in that it wants its central bank to diversify into gold without increasing the gold price and to shed dollar assets without devaluing the dollar so they are building reserves from internal sources and buying small quantities during price dips.  The UK made a very bad move when Gordon Brown sold off 395 tonnes of gold a decade ago when gold was at less than 25% of todays value. In light of the of the world economic situation this was doubly bad as gold reserves are more important than ever.

In summary:

• Currency is not money and its value can be changed by monetary policy makers
• Currency can be created and printed at will with no substance to support it
• Currency depreciation in value is accelerating with subsequent loss of purchasing power
• National debt is increasing to disastrous levels with threat of sovereign debt default
• Confidence in the  USD is waning and its use as a reserve currency is under threat
• Countries and investors are shedding their dollar assets
• Central Banks are diversifying into gold and out of dollar assets
• Smart investors are diversifying their portfolios with a proportion of gold
• The value of gold has been consistent in retaining its purchasing power
• Gold is insurance for your wealth
• Gold is the only real money

The price of gold rose to its all time high in December 2009 to $1212 an ounce and since then it dropped to a low of $1048 but now is in a period of consolidation of just above $1100 which follows a pattern that has been consistent over the last decade. It is likely that we will face another financial crisis due  irresponsible printing of currency, the risk of sovereign debt and political pressure. Of the millions of investors throughout the world only a tiny proportion see gold other than as a commodity. Central banks have seen the need to diversify into gold. The discerning investor understands that apart from ROI gold is a protection for wealth and the person who holds gold will see out a crisis and that has been proved time and again throughout history.  Once a greater proportion of investors become educated in the need to diversify, as they inevitably will, the price of gold will rocket.  Now is the time to protect your wealth in the safest investment – GOLD and I would recommend that you invest in the form of gold coins and in the UK gold sovereigns.

For details of the worlds most popular investment coins http://goldcoin.org/investment-coins/

Maurice Hall

Let’s imagine it’s 2018. The western world has gone through years of deflation then the flame returns as massive inflation repeating what happened in Germany in 1923.

John was still selling luxury yachts on the Côte d’Azur in 2008. Following the financial crash and the economic crisis that followed it, he now rears a few chickens on a farm on the outskirts of a small town in the Auvergne. In this article, he talks to us about his most recent discovery in a world where every day brings its new rules. He explains to us the characteristics of a good currency.

I arrive in the village square which is already full of people and a lay out my farm produce at my feet: pairs of chickens with their feet tied together and baskets of pats of butter wrapped in leaves, lying on a base of fresh and smooth eggs. I have some concerns because the Euros, which we usually use in the country, they have been refused by everyone since the State started issuing them willy-nilly. The screens where you enter the amount for a credit card transaction are no longer big enough to display the amounts that have to be paid for our everyday requirements. We are now a country without currency. What’s going to happen?

I have set up next to a pottery stall because I want a few of the multicoloured bowls that he has lined up on a wooden trestle. A neighbour joins us carrying shawls and scarves on his shoulders and I would like to choose one or two of them for my wife. We start talking. We realise that each of us wants something that the other owns. This is a good thing. However, after only a few moments of negotiation, we are completely engrossed on our butter-pottery, chicken-shawl, shawl-pottery, shawl-eggs, etc. exchanges that we don’t know where we are. It is at this point that I suggest we use an egg as a unit. Everything becomes clear: we agree on an estimated value for my butter, my chickens, their shawls and their bowls expressed in eggs. We negotiate a bit more but eventually the deals are struck.

My eggs have not been touched but they served as a common denominator as the retired London trader, who now rears snails, explained, they satisfied the first requirement of a currency: that of measuring value. They have become an accounting currency and I started looking at them differently.

An osteopath that I know comes by: he’s a good man and had quickly replaced my shoulder when it became dislocated the previous week. “I am not ungrateful” I said to him, “and every service merits its reward. Take something from my wares that you think is appropriate.” He thanks me but hesitates because he already has plenty of what I have available. “Give me some of your eggs anyway” he says, “Eggs can always be swapped for other things.” This means my eggs have now obtained a new quality, they have become a trading currency, they satisfy a second requirement of a currency: they are an instrument of exchange; They are really being honoured.

An hour later, as I left the Café du Commerce where I had ended the morning, I met the osteopath. “I’ve kept a dozen of your eggs” he told me, “I am going to use them to buy some pasta tomorrow; the store has sold out today.” My eggs are going to satisfy a third requirement of a currency, that of being a reserve of value, an investment instrument. They have become a true currency.

Would it not be helpful given this if I gave my eggs a higher value than I had up until now? Does this flattering choice not justify that I increase their price? They have acquired a monetary value that is in addition to their commercial value and I am delighted. However, two days later, my neighbour visits me and inadvertently provides the answers to the questions I have been asking myself: “I have heard that the osteopath, even though a careful man, has tripped on a stone and fallen, his basket overturned and his eggs have become an omelette – to the great pleasure of the children who were watching all of this.” I concluded from this that my arguments are correct for a good currency but unfortunately eggs are not a good currency and all their glory disappears before my eyes…

I think I will get the old Sovereigns out from their hiding place behind the bookcase, tomorrow…