Breaking the Dollar

Where Does the Gold Price Come From?

One common question encountered in the precious metals industry is, "Where does the price of gold come from?" Moreover, why is the price fluctuating all the time? This podcast episode explores these questions and provides a framework for understanding price discovery. Topics covered include supply and demand, bids and offers, as well as the futures markets.

Funny Money: Strange Forms of Currency Throughout History

The success of coins and paper money in the modern world is easy to take for granted. However, the these innovations did not follow a perfectly neat progression throughout history. In this episode, Everett provides several examples of strange forms of currency used in different times and places in human history. These sometimes surprising examples help reveal some of the qualities that money needs to function as a medium of exchange.

How to Store Your Precious Metals

Storing physical assets is not normally something the average investor has to consider. However, when you own precious metals, there are important things to know about how to store your gold and silver. This episode of Breaking the Dollar explores the pros and cons of a variety of different storage options. Ultimately, the ideal option for an individual investor will depend upon a trade-off between security and liability.

Panic Grips the Repo Market!: An Explainer

What is the repo market? In this episode of Breaking the Dollar, host Everett Millman explains how and why the Federal Reserve was forced to intervene in the repo market, a part of the financial system's interbank funding markets. He connects the Fed's repo operations to the broader notion that central banks will increasingly attempt to accommodate and stimulate financial markets as signs that we are late in the current economic cycle begin to multiply. However, this doesn't address underlying structural problems in the financial system.

How the Hunt Brothers Once Cornered the Silver Market

The story of the Hunt brothers and their attempt to corner the global silver market is an oft-cited story in the precious metals community. Everett leads the audience through the high points of this fascinating story. Along the way, he explains what it means to "corner" a market in the first place, and he shows why the Hunts ultimately were unsuccessful in their gambit. This cautionary tale also helps illustrate how market manipulation still exists with gold and silver prices.

History’s Greatest Gold Heists

This week's podcast reviews some of the most infamous and memorable gold heists in recent history, such as the Brinks Mat operation in London (1983) and the mythology surrounding Yamashita's Gold following World War II. Host Everett Millman uses these astonishing events to illustrate some of the persistent problems with transparency and liability in the global gold market.

Why Has the Gold Price Rallied So Much Lately?

As of the end of August, the price of gold had surged 30% so far in 2019. What the heck is going on? This episode of Breaking the Dollar ties together several of the most important factors that have been driving the gold price higher this year: fear and uncertainty over the trade war; a slowdown of the global economy; extreme measures taken by central banks; "mean regression" after several years of falling or stagnant gold prices; and a general rush toward safe haven assets by investors.

Eureka!: How Gold Rushes Transformed the World

This episode of Breaking the Dollar looks back at the history of gold rushes, paying particular attention to the wave of gold rush events in the 19th century. In addition to increasing the wealth available to nations, host Everett Millman connects these gold prospecting frenzies to profound transformative changes in demography, immigration, and urbanization in modern history. Gold rushes were a noteworthy manifestation of the pioneering spirit that led to the settlement of frontier regions in Canada, Australia, and the United States.

The Story of the Most Controversial Gold Coin

This episode introduces the story of the 1933 gold double eagle, a $20 gold coin that has attained legendary status. Host Everett Millman explains the origins of the coin's famous design by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, the circumstances that led to the 1933-dated coin becoming a major rarity, as well as some fascinating stories involving the coin along the way—including one of its noteworthy owners, the eccentric King Farouk of Egypt. These narratives help illustrate what distinguishes a rare collectible from its more common counterparts.

Propaganda and the Financial News

This week's episode of Breaking the Dollar challenges the notion that the mainstream media for financial news serves as an objective source of information. All of the well-known drawbacks of the broader mass news media apply to the world of finance: persuasion, propaganda, political agendas, corporate ownership, and so on. Everett uses critical thinking to demonstrate the bias—often against gold—found in these sources of financial "infotainment."