millenarianism and the gold revolution, page-19

Hi there Pug

Nixon is an interesting case. There is no question that he did a lot of harm. The 1970 invasion of Cambodia (in search of the “Bamboo Pentagon”) probably created the preconditions for the rise of Pol Pot and the Killing Fields that followed. That alone makes him a candidate for one of the baddies of the 20th Century.

But Nixon was a pragmatist. He did bad things for practical reasons. The invasion of Cambodia was intended to position the US for an exit from Vietnam. Taking the US off the gold standard in 1971 (if you think that was a bad thing) was necessary to stem the tide of foreign conversions that was drained US gold reserves.

Millenarians are invariably idealist and often a little naïve. Each one of my historical figures (with the possible exception of Cromwell) was like that. That is why Ron Paul is such an obvious candidate.

Keynes was another pragmatist. (I happen to think he was one of the goodies.)

With respect to my “frustration”, I have been trading gold all year from the long side. ( I am on the sidelines at the moment.) If I have a ”frustration”, it is that I can’t see enough sustained upside to warrant building a structural bullion position in my portfolio. I think gold will go back up, but I don’t see it going that far.

I hope you do well with your position.

Cheers