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1. When talking about a currency backed by gold (or silver or BitCoin) one should look to France’s experience as highlighted by F William Engdahl in his book ‘The Century of War’.

   “Throughout 1967, Bank of England gold reserves were falling, as foreign creditors, sensing an obvious imminent devaluation of the weakening pound, scrambled to redeem paper for gold, which they calculated must rise in value. By June 1967, de Gaulle’s government announced that France had withdrawn from the American-instigated ‘gold pool.’ In 1961, under Washington pressure, the central banks of ten leading industrial countries had created the Group of Ten, as it became known. In addition to the United States, Britain, France, Germany and Italy, the group included Holland, Belgium, Sweden,
   Canada and Japan. The Group of Ten had agreed in 1961 to pool reserves in a special fund, the gold pool, to be administered in London by the Bank of England. Under the arrangement, temporary remedy at best, as events revealed, the U.S. central bank contributed only half the costs of continuing to maintain the world price of gold at the artificially low $35 per ounce price of 1934. The other nine, plus Switzerland, had agreed to pay the second half of such ‘emergency’ interventions, on the understanding that the situation
   would be temporary.
   But the ‘emergency’ had become chronic by 1967, as Washington refused to bring its war-spending deficits under control and sterling continued to weaken along with the collapsing British economy. DeGaulle withdrew from the gold pool, not wanting to lose further French central bank gold reserves to the bottomless pit of interventions. The
   American and British financial press, led by the London Economist, began a heightened attack against French policy.
   But de Gaulle made one tactical blunder in the process. On January 31, 1967, a new law came into effect in France which allowed unlimited convertibility for the French franc. At the time, with French industrial growth among the strongest in Europe, and the franc, backed by
   strong gold reserves, one of the strongest currencies, convertibility was seen as a confirmation of France’s successful economic policy since de Gaulle took office in 1958. But it was soon to become the Achilles’ heel which finished de Gaulle’s France at the hands of AngloAmerican financial interests.
   French Prime Minister Georges Pompidou, in a public speech in
   February 1967, reaffirmed French adherence to a gold-backed monetary system as the only way to avoid international manipulations, adding that the ‘international monetary system is functioning poorly because it gives advantages to countries with a reserve currency [i.e., the United States]: these countries can afford inflation without paying for it.’ In effect, the Johnson administration and the Federal Reserve simply printed dollars and sent them abroad in place of its gold.
   The lines were becoming sharper through 1967 as France’s central bank determined to exchange its dollar and sterling reserves for gold, leaving the voluntary 1961 gold pool arrangement. Other central banks followed. The situation assumed near panic dimensions, as some 80 tons of gold were sold on the London market toward the end of the year in an unheard-of period of five days, in an unsuccessful effort to stop the speculative attack. Fear grew that the entire Bretton Woods edifice was about to fall apart at its weakest link, the
   pound sterling.
   Financial speculators by the second half of 1967 were selling pounds and buying dollars or other currencies which they then used to buy commercial gold in all possible markets from Frankfurt to Pretoria, sparking a steep rise in the market price of gold, in contrast to the $35 per ounce official U.S. dollar price. The sterling crisis indirectly focused attention on the growing vulnerability at the core of the international monetary system, the U.S. dollar itself.

2. Especially enjoyed this week’s show?
   I’m trying to understand why — possibly because I understand the topics you discussed this week and therefore enjoyed the discussion a bit more? Great as always however ?

3. When I was having to write code for the national security state, the slow-down strike is exactly how I did it.

4. This is another Admin test. This is only a test.

5. Should we assume any correlation between the credit rating of a bank (in my case, mentioned in the Moody’s downgrade story), and its financial advisors? Are these apples and oranges: the bank’s credit rating or stock value vs. the investment managing trustworthiness (or acumen) of its financial advisors?

   A year ago, my longtime financial advisor left one regional bank to work at another (just downgraded). He told me his reason was because with the new bank he would have 80 investment options to offer his customers, instead of the two he was limited to at the old bank.

   I’ve been planning to move my investments back under his management because of our relationship history, but as a Solari reader I’m trying to be smarter and do my due diligence first.

   I replayed the Lucy Komisar interview, and tried to investigate my annuities online (I’m still struggling to understand what I’m reading, and what certain phrases actually mean).

   Then suddenly I realized, I don’t even know if there is any correlation between a bank’s investment management services and its credit rating or stock value. Is there?
   —-
   Thank you and your staff for the quality of interviews and materials you make available to us. I still look forward to my time with you and John… despite how “diligent” I’m forced to be after each episode! 😉

6. part number of brother printer please

   1. I know you’re asking about the color printer, but for anyone who wants much cheaper but high quality b&w printing, 9 years ago I purchased a Brother Laser (not inkjet) printer: HL-2270dw. After numerous moves, and less than ideal working environments, it continues to produce flawlessly. I’m still on my first replacement drum (it shipped with a small 700-page starter kit). So I was pleased to hear Catherine and John endorse them as still producing quality printers.

7. 1. re John: “next week’s theme… good clock, bad clock” lol, love it!
   2. PRIME act – yes support local meat processing! Just got the Weston Price Foundation message on this: https://www.westonaprice.org/tell-congressmen-to-cosponsor-the-prime-act/#gsc.tab=0
   3. As usual, great content. Thanks for connecting all the financial dots!

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