Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:Here is the speech of Ferdinand...

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:


Here is the speech of Ferdinand Lips, veteran gold banker
and chairman of Top-Gold AG of Switzerland, to GATA's
Gold Rush 21 conference in Dawson City, Yukon Territory,
Canada, on Monday, August 8. It was presented by Lips'
partner at Top-Gold, J.P. Schumacher. GATA is deeply
grateful to Lips for his praise of our work and will be
considering his advice.


CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.


* * *


THREE REVOLUTIONS


Remarks by Ferdinand Lips
at the Gold Rush 21 conference
of the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
Dawson City, Yukon Territory, Canada
Monday, August 8, 2005


It is an honor and a pleasure for me to talk to you at the site of
the greatest gold discovery in history. We are in Dawson City, the
place of the Klondike Gold Rush of 1896.


As a young man I spent two years of my life in Toronto. So almost 50
years later I made a visit this legendary country of the Yukon. In
this wild place destiny played unbelievably dramatic roles in many
thousands of lives. There is no fever like gold fever.


This June gold bullion posted a dramatic rise against all major
currencies. Another cycle in this bull market seems to be beginning.
The curtain of this present-day drama is soon going to lifted as
investors all over the world start to notice what is going on.


Let me talk about how I see the gold and the world situation from
Dawson City.


In short: Because the world has forgotten the monetary role of gold,
our world is in serious trouble. That is the one major reason for
the worrisome state of the world. The abandonment of gold as money,
of the discipline of gold, is the major reason if not the only
reason why our world has become a very dangerous place. In my
opinion, it is the biggest tragedy in world history.


Some years ago I heard that the Mayan calendar will end on the 23rd
of December 2012. There is no more Mayan calendar afterwards. That
is only about seven years away.


The Mayans were a people of great culture and they loved gold. They
have to be taken seriously.


What could that mean? What is going to happen?


Is it the end of the world?


No, it can't be that. We hope not.


However, we are facing an economic situation that could easily end
in a debacle of epic proportions.


Will there be another world war? Well, that is quite possible. There
are so many wars already. In the 20th century there have been two
world wars, thousands of smaller wars, even gold wars and currency
wars. They would never have happened under a gold standard.
Impossible.


What else could it be, then?


I have come to several conclusions. Conclusions usually come at the
end of a speech. But I won't keep you waiting.


George Bernard Shaw said: "It's difficult to make forecasts,
especially about the future." But I will try anyway. I'll tell you
my conclusions right now.


First conclusion: There will be no more Federal Reserve. Yes, there
will be no more Fed. Believe me.


It may come as a surprise to some of you to hear that the Federal
Reserve System is already America's fourth central bank. There were
three others before that and the result was always the same -- a
disaster. We have had nearly a hundred years of the Fed and that is
enough.


Why? Because this organization has tragically failed. It was set up
to keep the dollar strong and the financial system sound. It was
founded by powerful and supposedly very intelligent men. Within a
hundred years they have succeeded in running the dollar down to 5
percent of its 1913 value. Maybe even below that.


The Fed has created stock market bubbles. Right now it is creating
the biggest housing bubble in history. This may lead to economic
collapse.


I expect that a revolution will one day take place against the Fed.
It must be abolished. After all, its founders were not that
intelligent but rather stupid men. Or they were devils. It is a
tragedy. Not only that: It is the biggest tragedy in world history,
even worse than wars. Yes, worse than wars. It made most people
poor. It damaged America. It caused wars and then helped to finance
them.


Second conclusion: Most other central banks will go too. The central
banks invented this terrible monster of "the lender of last
resort," which allows irresponsible banks and the wealthy financial
folk to speculate without real risk of their own. It led to an
incredible buildup of financial leverage. And at the end it leaves
ordinary people holding the bag.


None of this would occur if we had an honest monetary structure. We
don't need central banks. The once mighty Bundesbank, the bank that
ruled Europe, has already lost all its power. All central banks must
and will be abolished.


Why? Because they were so stupid and fraudulently sold their
citizens' gold and bought paper money instead, mostly U.S. dollars.
You know -- those dollars that lost 95 percent of their value over
100 years.


Yes, there is now the euro. But is that currency cocktail any
better? Somebody called it the Esperanto currency, meaning the
hopeful currency. Before the creation of the euro all the central
banks of the world held all their monetary reserves in U.S. dollars,
a currency backed by nothing. After the dollar crashed in recent
years, they shifted their paper dollars into euros. How clever --
they sold gold at the bottom and then they sold dollars at the
bottom.


I hope all is not lost. I suspect that some central bankers are
beginning to find out that gold is the only real money -- the only
alternative to worthless paper money reserves.


My forecast: Beginning in 2006 the same central bankers who dumped
gold at much lower prices will repurchase that gold at much higher
prices.


Third conclusion: The United States will have Latin American
conditions but without Latin charm.


I am extremely worried about the future of the United States. Its
manufacturing industry is dying. The United States is bleeding to
death with these endless wars. As far as I know, America has no
enemies from outside that threaten it. In my view, the enemy comes
from inside. The United States will face economic collapse and
destruction of its currency. But people are not informed about what
is going on. I also hear that U.S. citizens are losing their
freedom. That is, of course, the consequence.


Americans should remember their heritage. They should remember the
principles of their founding fathers. These wonderful men created a
great and successful country that was admired by the whole world.
This is all gone. The leaders of the U.S. government are thinking
only about teaching everybody what democracy is. The leaders of the
U.S. government want to rule a world they don't understand. They
want to manage the markets they no longer dominate and then go to
war when nothing helps.


Fourth conclusion: China will probably become the biggest economy in
the world.


China has a long history. The timeless value of the wisdom of a
Confucius, almost 3,000 years old, is again remembered. Believe me,
this is far superior to Disneyland. China will become the most
important country. China will have a great future as long as it can
master the speed at which it is changing and growing. That will be
difficult.


China's economic progress creates not only wealth but also tensions.
It should not be built on the American consumer, who consumes that
much only because he thinks the housing boom makes him rich. So
China and the other Asian countries will one day need to have their
own integrated markets. They will no longer depend so heavily on an
American consumer drowning in debt.


If political tensions become too tense, the country could split up
in three Chinas. It has happened before. That would not be too bad.
Smaller countries can be better managed. In the case of China, these
three countries would still be big enough.


Fifth conclusion: India will get wealthier and more successful. But
I wonder if a country is really successful if it has that many poor
people. Most important insight: In spite of all the forecasts, India
will buy more and more gold. The Indians will never change. They
have lots of history and experience with paper money.


In the Middle Ages there was a "silk road" going from Turkey to
Kazakhstan. Now we are seeing the building of the "gold road." It
starts in Dubai. Dubai is building the biggest gold refineries in
the world. They buy and refine the gold that flows over the "gold
road" to India and all of Asia.


Sixth conclusion: Russia could become the greatest power. Russia may
have the biggest gold reserves. In 1917 under the tsar the Bank of
Russia had the biggest gold stock of all central banks, including
the Bank of England. Russia has many well-educated, hard-working,
and decent people. They just need to abolish their enormous
bureaucracy, forget their Marxist nightmare, and learn the
principles of a free-market economy. Russia is a fabulously rich
country with enormous resources, a lot of good people, and a lot of
culture.


Seventh conclusion: Together with Russia, Europe could again be the
center of the world. But this is far from sure. It can be achieved
only if we drop socialism and the welfare state. We should learn
from the Chinese. Hard work and little welfare state.


But in order to succeed, the euro needs a link to gold. The miracle
can be accomplished only if Europeans replace Keynes with the
thinking of men like Röpke, von Mises, von Hayek, et al. Röpke,
Eucken, and Erhard were the fathers of the German miracle. These
policies could again be the source of a European miracle. The
European Union of Brussels, the European Union in its present form,
should be abolished.


The Brussels bureaucracy of unelected officials is a monster. The
French and the Dutch just voted against it.


The EU in its present form will fail and maybe the euro will fail as
well. That would not be the end of Europe. As General Charles de
Gaulle recommended, the ideal would be the Europe of the Nations, a
Europe where the individuality of every nation and region is
respected. A Europe from the Atlantic to the Urals.


A bit more religion would also help. The word "God" was not even
included in this new European constitution. The unelected masters of
Europe wanted to do it without God. They are destined to fail.


Eighth conclusion: Gold and Silver prices will be much, much higher.
Oil prices too. There is not enough gold. Who wants to produce gold
and silver as long as prices are held artificially low? This whole
manipulation of the gold market has to end. It will end like the
London Gold Pool in 1968. Just collapse. The gold pool was created
in 1960 by the central banks to keep the price of gold at $35. It
could not last. Gold was stronger than the central banks. And gold
will also be stronger than the hedge fund boys who are criminally
borrowing and shorting stocks of small gold-rich exploration
companies just to bring them to their knees.


Only this time the explosion of prices will be more spectacular. The
prices will go to the moon. And the manipulators will be hit by a
real boomerang. Also, the central banks will start buying in 2006.
Nobody will be able to stop that future gold rush. Gold will take
its revenge.


Ninth conclusion: If the price of gold and silver were left to free-
market forces, nearly everybody would benefit. South America. Most
countries of Africa. South Africa would benefit most. Even the
United States would greatly benefit because it is the No. 3 producer
of gold. There could be a renaissance of mining generally, with all
the beneficial effects on national economies.


Tenth conclusion: My most important forecast is the following: I
forecast a return to the gold standard.


Without a return to the gold standard, you can forget it. I repeat:
Forget everything. Then the calendar of the Mayans and their wisdom
will have proved to be greater than that of Nostradamus.


If we go back to the gold standard I could see the best scenario for
the future of mankind. Everybody would benefit from sound money. The
United States again could become a great economic power and nation.
Gold-rich Asia may benefit most. The world economy would run on its
full potential. There would be full employment everywhere. The young
could again find jobs. Peace would return to the world.


How can this be achieved?


By three revolutions.


1. The GATA revolution.


2. The education revolution.


3. The mining revolution.


... The GATA revolution.


I came to this historic place to tell you how we Europeans admire
the work of GATA.


For seven years now GATA, under the leadership of Bill Murphy and
Chris Powell, has been fighting for free markets, for a free gold
market. Bill's courage is without example.


It is a fight of David against Goliath. Day after day Bill is
hammering out his message for transparency through honesty. Day
after day he informs us how honest people are robbed by arrogant
governments, bureaucrats, useless central banks, and an almighty
banking system.


It is a total crime if you manipulate markets, depress the price of
assets of other people, destroy the economies of whole nations
(primarily in Africa), and drive hundreds of millions of people into
poverty. It is a crime.


GATA courageously fights for free markets, better markets, honesty,
and a better world. GATA therefore deserves our full support.


The mining industry has often been criticized by GATA and rightly
so. GATA criticized it for not protesting against the obvious
manipulation. The mining people do not realize what is happening to
their product, to them and to their shareholders. The mining
industry is mostly engineers and they don't understand what some
dark, obscure characters on commodities exchange are doing to them.
Or else they are just closing their eyes.


If you realize how much effort it takes to get a few grams of gold
out of the ground, then it is obvious that this manipulation is a
major crime.


It can only be in the interest of mining people to support GATA.
Actually the defense of the mining industry was the job of the World
Gold Council. But they failed. That is one of the strangest
organizations I ever met. In any case the World Gold Council is not
the friend of the gold-mining industry. Rather it is serving its
biggest sponsors, who incidentally were also the biggest gold
hedgers. Those sponsors are dictating the World Gold Council's
policy.


All gold and silver mines should voluntarily give GATA an annual
contribution, not based on ounces produced but what they think is
right. All investors, but primarily those with interests in gold and
silver mines, must subscribe to GATA's dispatches. Each day they
will get high-class and honest information.


GATA is the only organization that is fighting for miners and
investors. Fighting for their rights and their money.


GATA and Bill Murphy's own Internet site, LeMetropoleCafe.com,
should now be put on a broader basis. A group of friends should meet
with them and work out a plan for how GATA can be institutionalized
and structured. It should become a structured business corporation.


The benefits for everybody will be enormous, not just for a few
stock market gains but for the whole economy, countries, mines,
shareholders, workers, and for freedom.


Can it be done? Yes, it can. It is needed because the gold cabal
cannot endlessly steal our money. GATA must live and grow. Let's
build GATA into to a powerful organization. Bill deserves it. He is
a pioneer. GATA has to become a viable business corporation.


This reminds me in a way of the foundation of Switzerland. In 1291,
30 men from the Swiss mountains assembled one night in a meadow near
the Lake Lucerne in Switzerland. They wanted to be free. At that
time Europe was ruled by kings and princes and other nobles who were
not always nice to the common man. The common man had to pay taxes
and had to fight on the battlefields for the glory of the kings.
They had to fight and die for the feudal system.


The mountain farmers decided that they could manage their own
destiny. They were determined not to bow to any oppressor but rather
to die than live in chains. And they had to go to war. In three
decisive battles they beat the army of the Austrian Hapsburg empire.
But before they went into the battle, the farmers went down on their
knees and prayed to God Almighty for help.


Other cantons joined the original three cantons. Today Switzerland,
a country without natural resources, is the country with the highest
per capita income in the world. Switzerland is still the only direct
democracy in the world.


This, my friends, is my first message. Now to the second message:


... The education revolution.


If we want to change the monetary non-system, then we must have a
plan. We need a plan to inform people about sound money. For a
century people have been brainwashed that gold is finished and fiat
paper money will rule. The politicians are full of lies and the
media is full of lies. There is not one university in the world
where monetary history and science are taught.


From history we know how fiat money systems end. Look at the
American Continental and the John Law experiment. They all finished
badly. The present paper money experiment is even worse. It's the
worst because it is worldwide. For the first time in history all the
currencies of the world are backed by nothing. It is the worst
system ever invented. It is the Tower of Babel of irredeemable money.


Let me cite Professor Antal Fekete from my book "Gold Wars." Fekete
said:


"This book is much more than a chronicle of gold wars. It is also an
account of the historic failure of 'Esperanto money.' Over a hundred
years ago a Polish physician by the name of Ludovik Lazarus Zamenhof
(1859-1917) created a synthetic language in the hope of removing the
curse of Babel from mankind. According to the Bible, man had become
so conceited as to challenge God by proposing to build a tower that
was to reach high heaven. The tower could never be completed because
of failures of communication due to the confusion of different
languages. Zamenhof called his new language 'Esperanto,'
meaning 'the hopeful.' However, the hope was in vain as other
synthetic languages, such as 'Ido,' sprang up. The confusion of
tongues and the curse of Babel have remained."


Calling irredeemable currency "Esperanto money" is apt. The
Biblical story may be interpreted allegorically as an admonition not
to challenge God by attempting to build a tower of irredeemable debt
that is to reach high heaven. But the admonition fell upon deaf
ears. Now God's wrath is upon us.


Currencies of nations have been confused. The tower of Babel is in
vain. Other synthetic currencies spring up such as the Special
Drawing Right, the euro, and so on. The confusion of currencies, and
the curse of Babel, remain.


How could this tower of irredeemable money come into existence?
Because there is no gold standard. Because people do not know what
money is, what sound money is and means. The lessons of history are
forgotten.


In the 19th century every peasant knew what money is. So you have to
educate people again.


How can it be done?


You create a worldwide monetary institute. We organize conferences
but with a system. You invite the young people and everybody who
wants to learn. You have three-year courses about monetary history,
about mining, about the influence of sound money on the economy, in
history and in the future. An organization such as FAME
(www.Fame.org) could play an enormous role. I am a trustee of this
organization and a friend of its director, Dr. Larry Parks.


You do not need a building for this. You may organize it at various
places, in various countries: Switzerland to begin with, Toronto,
Singapore, Dubai, Kyoto, Shanghai, Cape Town, Buenos Aires -- any
place you can think of. In a few years millions of people will know
what sound money is, and millions of people will want to go back to
the gold standard. And millions of people will want to buy gold.


The free market will overwhelm the manipulators. The free market
will decide the right price for gold.


Thanks to the wonderful instrument of the Internet, the message will
spread rapidly. I tell you that within three years the world will be
ready for a new gold standard, for sound money, law and order,
freedom, and no wars. Maybe it will take more than three years,
maybe it will take seven years, until 2012 when the Mayan calendar
ends and a new calendar starts.


How can this be achieved?


This reminds me of another example in history, the victory of
Christendom over the Roman Empire. The missionaries did it without
money, without the Internet. They travelled on donkeys and spoke to
the crowds, told them about God, convinced them of the importance of
love and peace. And they won. It was the Judeo-Christian philosophy
that there is only one God that defeated the Roman Empire without
weapons.


That is why I tell you it can be done. It can be done fast. We have
the Internet.


My daughter Barbara and I have worked out a plan for a monetary
institute. It was easy. I sent the plan to 10 people I thought would
be receptive. When I asked their opinion, they found it excellent.
For now it is still in the drawer in Switzerland, waiting to be put
in practice for the benefit of mankind.


But who will do this? Who has enough enthusiasm to create such a
monetary institute? It cannot be Ferdi Lips. I am over 74. But there
should be plenty of candidates. In May I was in the Middle East, in
Dubai, where I had spoke at the Gulf Research Center. Last year I
was in Bahrain. I spoke at a university. They were so interested
they wanted me to help them work out a program for universities in
all other Arabic-speaking countries taking "Gold Wars" as a
basis.


Today it is easy to spread the message with the help of the computer.


... The Mining Revolution


Before closing I am going to speak to you as a representative of the
gold-mining industry. The gold-mining industry is in a big squeeze.
It is in big trouble. It is a miracle that it still exists. Actually
it should make huge profits and pay rich dividends.


Thirty years ago gold-mining companies paid dividends to their
shareholders because gold in the ground is a wasting asset. Today
they do not and cannot pay dividends. Why?


Because the low price of gold does not allow them to. We need a
healthy mining industry. It is good for the world economy. Today the
price of gold should be 50 percent higher. The mines, the
shareholders, and the workers would prosper. But it is not only the
low price of gold that hurts them. There is also a currency war
going on, producing huge currency fluctuations, while energy costs
are rising, prices of commodities are rising, labor costs are
increasing, and in many cases gold grades are declining.


The conclusion is that the gold mining industry needs a higher gold
price. I have been active for 10 years in the gold-mining industry
in South Africa and Canada, and never have I seen an industry that
does so little for marketing its own product. Nor does the South
African government or its finance minister ever raise their voice.
They just watch how their mining industry is criminally destroyed.
And the unions actually think that the mining companies are doing a
bad job.


Of course, if you think it over, they ARE doing a bad job. Why?
Well, they just watch how their product is destroyed.


The shareholders of the mining companies should make their
respective managements responsible for selling gold for $300 or more
below its right price and thus squandering their precious assets.


Unfortunately most shareholders also don't know what is going on
either.


Most mining executives are engineers. Most of them do not even know
that the price of gold is managed. It is irresponsible. Every cheese
manufacturer does more for his product. But what can the miners do?
Well, they have done enough cost cutting, closing down unprofitable
mines and firing workers. What they should do is simply withhold 10
percent of their production from the market.


That is about 200 tonnes per year. It is only one half of what the
central banks are selling each year under the Washington Agreement.
It is only one half of what the central banks are selling in order
to keep the price low.


If the central banks are allowed to do everything to destroy the
mining industry, then the mining industry has the right to fight
back. Now is the time to stand up and withhold 200 tonnes of
production. Two hundred tonnes are not much but it would help
immediately.


So we finally come to the conclusions:


1. We need a strong, powerful GATA. It is a necessity -- a GATA that
is structured, organized, and institutionalized. It has to become a
going corporation.


2. We need to teach the people of the world what gold is. Gold is
money, the only money and the best money. It insures that our world
will again be prosperous. We need a monetary institute on a
worldwide basis.


3. The mining industry must prosper again. It must withhold gold
from the market until the central banks end their gold sales.


4. It is of the utmost importance to get rid of the restriction that
the International Monetary Fund has placed in its articles of
agreement that prohibits member countries from linking their
currencies to gold. Or else the countries have to quit the IMF.


5. In his essay "Can Gold Producers Survive By Promoting Jewelry?,"
Larry Parks of FAME said: "At the end of the day, to revive the
fortunes of the gold producers, it is necessary and sufficient to
restore gold as the choice of free markets and free people all over
the world as money that doesn't depreciate at home or abroad; as
money that is as steady as the stars; as money that is as faithful
as the tides or, as the American Federation of Labor put it at the
turn of the last century: 'Gold is the standard of every great
civilization.'"


That is the salvation of the gold-mining industry: Gold as the
standard of every great civilization!


This is my message.


Conquer the fiat money non-system with knowledge, just as
Christendom conquered the pagan Roman Empire. Conquer it with gold.
If we do this, then by the 23rd of December 2012 a new golden Mayan
calendar will be born and the world will experience a renaissance
and prosperity for all.


But if we don't do it, the calendar of the Mayans will have truly
been prophetic. We will face global economic collapse and believe
me -- the end of the world as we know it.