Presumably the shrinkage of the BIS' gold banking business shows that even central banks now prefer to hold their own gold or hold it in earmarked form -- that is, as allocated gold.
The increase in debt was nearly double expectations. It was the biggest jump in consumer debt since July. American consumers now owe over $5.1 trillion in consumer debt.
Defeating the competition posed by gold to the dollar long has been the primary objective of the Federal Reserve, U.S. Treasury Department, and Western central banking generally.
The market has been floating on the hopium of a string of rate cuts, while inflation will hold the Fed’s feet to the fire, making the interest-cutting scenario less likely than the market believes.
Authors Wischer and Dwivedi declare the most secure source of energy and minerals is domestic production. “Ultimately, the pursuit of US energy dominance could coincide with a push for US mineral independence,” the authors conclude.
Losses are attributed to interest payments on bank reserves, and the Fed's long-term fixed-rate assets purchased during periods of near-zero interest rates.
