Inflation is not all due to rising labor costs and materials costs, transportation costs, etc. It’s also largely driven by a huge effort to push fatter profits into bigger pockets.
What nobody wants to say out loud is that rates are too high for an economy loaded up with trillions in debt. It’s only a matter of time before something breaks.
Investors have remained optimistic that shelter costs will start to come down for months. So, up the market went on the lingering fumes of vain hopes...
Mine output rose modestly by 1% in 2023 to 3644.4 tons, but it still hasn’t recovered to pre-pandemic levels. These countries were the top 10 gold producers in 2023.
1. It's in the Fed's best interest to extend the prosperity phase of the economic cycle. 2. The Fed's biggest source of income is interest on U.S. government securities.
Given what is happening in the gold market more generally, it appears reasonable to assume that the Federal Reserve is the BIS' customer for these gold transactions.
