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Ripple Effect

The Cantillon Effect Remains in Full Force

Loading ...Addison Wiggin

June 24, 2025 • 2 minute, 12 second read


Cantillon Effectfiat moneywealth creation

The Cantillon Effect Remains in Full Force

Central banks set monetary policy – allowing them to create money out of thin air. Those who are closest or the first to access this newly-created money tend to be the biggest beneficiaries.

This is known as the Cantillon Effect.

And for all the progressive talk about “wealth inequality” in America, the shift off of the gold standard since 1971 has kicked this effect into high gear – not tax policy.

Wealth creation – from being able to access capital to buy assets or start a new business – has been the biggest driver of this inequality, as worker wages have been stagnant at best when adjusted for inflation.

Access to money, makes more money.

In the last three years alone, thanks to a soaring stock market, the top 1% of Americans has seen their wealth grow by 25%, or $10 trillion:

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The systemic wealth transfer isn’t a flaw of fiat money – it’s a feature.

Your best bet to protect yourself? Invest in non-fiat assets, such as gold and bitcoin.

Gold prices are still significantly undervalued in fiat terms. Bitcoin, even with its volatility, offers higher long-term return potential.

“Gold is for protection (and for love),” our friend Frank Holmes likes to say, “Bitcoin is for growth.”

~ Addison

50 Major Companies That Will Likely
Fail to Survive Trump’s MAGA Economy

Turn On Your Images.

Many have 5-star ratings.

Most are “buys” per Wall Street.

But they’re dead companies.

Click here to see the full list.

P.S.: Looking for small-cap companies that are driven by fundamentals and not just retail sentiment? Join our Fraternity!

Each week, we explore more interesting investment ideas, often brought by our contributors and special guests.

For instance, in last week’s Grey Swan Live! with Chris Mayer, we explored some of Chris’s top investment ideas, including some of the best value plays in countries such as Sweden and Poland.

For U.S. investors, tread lightly – these companies can only be bought on the pink sheets, where volume is light and prices can swing wildly. But if you’re looking for value now, going overseas may be just the place to do it.

Meanwhile, you can also join our Portfolio Director Andrew Packer at the Rule Investment Symposium in Boca Raton on July 7-11, 2025. Click here to attend and meet your future cutting-edge resource investments face-to-face.

As always, your reader feedback is welcome: feedback@greyswanfraternity.com (We read all emails. Thanks in advance for your contribution.)

How did we get here? Find out in these riveting reads: Demise of the Dollar, Financial Reckoning Day, and Empire of Debt — all three books are now available in their third post-pandemic editions. You might enjoy one or all three.


A Look at Precious Metals As Prices Soar

January 14, 2026 • Shad Marquitz

Let’s peel back the layers of this precious metals bull market by analyzing the pricing action on the charts, which contains ALL the buying and selling.

Most people love a good narrative, and they use these stories to either reinforce their biased views or to explain away price action that they don’t agree with.

They are just stories, though, even if there are elements of truth embedded within them. We can utilize charts to remove this biased narrative and noise.

Over the longer term, the pricing that populates charts truly incorporates the total buying and selling from all central banks, financial institutions, ETFs, hedge funds, whale investors, and the rest of the retail investors.

A Look at Precious Metals As Prices Soar
The Empire As Junkyard Dog

January 14, 2026 • Addison Wiggin

Yesterday’s CPI showed prices still ticking up—2.7% year-over-year, right in line with expectations.

Wall Street expects at least two rate cuts in 2026. At the same time, global central banks — led by China and Russia — continue buying gold to reduce their reliance on the dollar. Combine this with supply chain reshoring and increasing geopolitical tensions, and metals have emerged as both a hedge and a haven.

Between a precious metals rally catching the attention of outlets as lilywhite as Bloomberg and the Trump administration’s 2026 focus on critical minerals and domestic production, there’s a lot to unearth in the natural resource sector.

The Empire As Junkyard Dog
Affordability, Meet Reflation

January 14, 2026 • Addison Wiggin

Today’s chart of inflation reflects an eerily similar path to the 1970s. The last CPI reading ticked back up 2.7%. If prices today continue to track those of the 1970s, the next wave of inflation could see prices rise higher and faster than during the 2021/2022 bout.

Yesterday, gold notched another new record high of $4647. Its slimmer, svelte cousin, silver, set a new historic high of $92. Both monetary metals are reflecting the market fear that once inflation gets started, it’s very difficult to contain.

Affordability, Meet Reflation
The Grand Realignment Gets Personal

January 13, 2026 • Addison Wiggin

Sunday night, Powell addressed the probe head-on in a video post — a rarity. He accused the White House of using cost overruns in the Fed’s HQ renovation as a pretext for political interference.

The White House denied involvement. But few in Washington believed it.

What followed was bipartisan condemnation of the investigation. Greenspan, Bernanke, and Yellen co-signed a blistering rebuke, warning the U.S. was starting to resemble “emerging markets with weak institutions.”

The Grand Realignment Gets Personal