The Endgame for Fiat? Currency, Credit, and the Case for Gold

November 3, 2024 • 47 second read

I am travelling this weekend so today’s thought piece is a conversation, which Mining Network recorded last week week between veteran gold guru, Alasdair Macleod, and myself.

It’s heavyweight goldbug stuff. I hope you enjoy it.

You can watch it below, but I have also ripped the audio so you have the option to listen to that if you prefer to escape the clutch of your screens.

If you are thinking of buying gold to protect yourself in these uncertain times, I recommend The Pure Gold Company. Pricing is competitive, quality of service is high. They deliver to the UK, US, Canada and Europe or you can store your gold with them. More here.

I’ll be MCing this year’s Moneyweek Summit this coming Friday November 8th. Readers of the Flying Frisby can get a 20% discount by entering the code FRISBY20

And if you are interested in hearing more from Alasdair, he has a Substack too.

Beneath the Surface

The Endgame for Fiat? Currency, Credit, and the Case for Gold

Dominic Frisby

November 3, 2024 • 47 second read

fiat currencies gold

I am travelling this weekend so today’s thought piece is a conversation, which Mining Network recorded last week week between veteran gold guru, Alasdair Macleod, and myself.

It’s heavyweight goldbug stuff. I hope you enjoy it.

You can watch it below, but I have also ripped the audio so you have the option to listen to that if you prefer to escape the clutch of your screens.

I’ll be MCing this year’s Moneyweek Summit this coming Friday November 8th. Readers of the Flying Frisby can get a 20% discount by entering the code FRISBY20

And if you are interested in hearing more from Alasdair, he has a Substack too.

Joe Withrow: The Hollow Class, Part III

November 13, 2025 • Andrew Packer

What we’ve seen since 2008 is nothing short of a theft of the commons. Except it happened in little pieces that seemed unrelated at the time. But if we look at the story holistically, it all comes together.

When we step back and view the entire picture, what emerges is not just a story of market excesses and economic shifts. What we see is the gutting of middle America – be it intentional or otherwise.

Now the question is – are we going to see the restoration of the American middle class in the coming years… or are we going to watch everything devolve into a modern redux of the War Between the States, more commonly but mistakenly known as the American Civil War?

Performative Clowns

November 13, 2025 • Addison Wiggin

Today’s Washington isn’t governed so much as stage-managed.

Politicians don’t solve problems; they perform them.

The current fixation is affordability — a word that will be repeated ad nauseam from now through the 2026 midterms, until it becomes as meaningless as “bipartisan.”

The script hasn’t changed in decades: promise relief, pass a law that raises costs, blame capitalism, hold hearings, fundraise, repeat.

A Bubble in Bubble Talk

November 13, 2025 • Addison Wiggin

Yes, Nvidia’s profits are up 500%, and its share price followed suit — a rare case where the story actually matches the math. But that’s the exception, not the rule.

Beneath the headlines, we’re starting to see the kind of financial gymnastics — circular lending, balance-sheet origami, and creative “partnerships” — that usually signal the boom is running out of breath.

If history rhymes, it looks like we’re closing in on the tail end of a mania.

The Hollow Class, Part II

November 12, 2025 • Addison Wiggin

As interest rates fell, investors swarmed into real estate, lured by yields and the illusion that home prices never fell. Wall Street’s private-label securitizers were soon packaging everything from pristine mortgages to what were effectively loans scribbled on napkins, thus turning them into bonds that glowed like gold — until you looked too closely.

For their part, the regulators and ratings agencies conveniently looked away and allowed the bubble to grow. Fannie Mae watched the frenzy from the sidelines at first.

The company’s mandate — written in law — was not to chase profits but to promote affordable housing. That is to say, to make sure that teachers, nurses, and other first-time buyers could own their own homes and unlock the American Dream.

But as Wall Street flooded the market with high-risk mortgage products, political pressure mounted. Congress demanded that Fannie “do its part” for low and moderate-income families.

Joe Withrow: The Hollow Class, Part III

November 13, 2025 • Andrew Packer

Performative Clowns

November 13, 2025 • Addison Wiggin

Today’s Washington isn’t governed so much as stage-managed.

Politicians don’t solve problems; they perform them.

The current fixation is affordability — a word that will be repeated ad nauseam from now through the 2026 midterms, until it becomes as meaningless as “bipartisan.”

The script hasn’t changed in decades: promise relief, pass a law that raises costs, blame capitalism, hold hearings, fundraise, repeat.

A Bubble in Bubble Talk

November 13, 2025 • Addison Wiggin

Yes, Nvidia’s profits are up 500%, and its share price followed suit — a rare case where the story actually matches the math. But that’s the exception, not the rule.

If history rhymes, it looks like we’re closing in on the tail end of a mania.

The Hollow Class, Part II

November 12, 2025 • Addison Wiggin

For their part, the regulators and ratings agencies conveniently looked away and allowed the bubble to grow. Fannie Mae watched the frenzy from the sidelines at first.

But as Wall Street flooded the market with high-risk mortgage products, political pressure mounted. Congress demanded that Fannie “do its part” for low and moderate-income families.