We are heading into a confiscatory era—a time when banks and governments reserve the right to go beyond the old method of taxation and to actually pillage the purse of the public. This has begun with bank accounts and pension funds in some countries, and, as the concept becomes a trend, it will take on many forms.

As you know, gold has been taking a thrashing despite an unchanged long-term story and fundamentals. Jeff presents this excellent analysis of what gold has been through and what we should expect going forward.

If the sheep are to be sheared, they must first be penned in so that they cannot escape. In the US, several states have either passed laws or are in the process of drafting laws to record the sales of precious metals.

For many observers, the present situation should be well beyond the point of the raised eyebrow. It should be glaringly apparent that the amount of gold presently claimed to be in storage in the world’s banks is (to a greater or lesser extent) overstated.

Like a handful of others a decade ago, I believed that the damage that governments were doing to their economies at that time would end in disaster. I also believed that one biproduct of these actions would be a dramatic rise in the price of precious metals.