Seneca’s Cliff: Greece, Debt and Paper Silver

The path to growth is gradual but the road to ruin is rapid.  – Lucius Seneca, Roman philosopher

We hosted Steve St. Angelo at the Shadow of Truth for a fascinating, if not startling, look at the big developments that look to have the west – and possibly the entire world – headed for an unexpected collapse.

When the system finally starts to unravel, the speed at which it will unravel and how it takes down the fiscal economy will be breathtaking.  – Steve St. Angelo,Shadow of Truth

There’s really no good solution.  This is the dilemma faced by every western country.  The west, including Japan and the United States, has accumulated a catastrophic level of debt in order to sustain a standard of living that is not even remotely supported by economic output.  The Greece situation is the poster-child for this dynamic.  However, make no mistake about it, the United States is Greece on steroids.

The only difference between Greece and the United States with regard to its lethal level of debt is that  1)  the U.S. has the unfettered ability to print money and create more debt in quantities needed to service its existing debt and pay ongoing expenses and 2)  the U.S. has a world-ending arsenal of nukes  – Shadow of Truth

What we are seeing occur right now going on in the market for physical gold and silver is Gresham’s Law in motion.  Bad money chases good money out of the system.  This means that anyone who is holding “bad” money – and understands it to be bad money – will take the bad money and exchange it for good money – physical gold and silver – and remove the good money from the system.  This is exactly what is occurring with massive transfer of gold and silver from the west to the east:

In the last 15-20 years, money has been funnelled out of physical things and into paper digits and assets…money stored in a safe in the form of physical gold and silver – that’s stored economic energy…Unfortunately, 99% of U.S. citizens and folks around the world took the all the excess surplus paper money [money that has been printed] and put it in “digits” and they think they’re going to get that back. And that’s the reason that gold and silver are so undervalued…and the market hasn’t realized that…Steve St. Angelo, Shadow of Truth

The mining stocks currently are more undervalued now in relation to the current price of gold and silver than they were at the beginning of the precious metals bull market in late 2000.  Many of the junior mining stocks can be bought at a stock price that equates to a few dollars per ounce of the amount of proved gold and silver they have in the ground. Every surviving company, large and small, has cut its costs to the bare bones.

When the price of gold and silver resumes its bull market trend – and we believe it has this year – the price moves will be amplified by the declining supply of mined gold and silver globally.  The increasing price will fall right to the bottom line of mining companies.  Junior miners which have “fattened” up their proved gold/silver resource base over the last four years will see their acquisition value spike significantly higher.

By the end of this year, or let’s say by September/October, I think it’s a perfect scenario for things to get out of hand. If people don’t buy silver right now, I really don’t think they’re going to be able to find it in the future.  – Steve St. Angelo