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On the one hand, it should be cause for a revolution because it will actually turn people into serfs. But on the other hand, the average American has almost no understanding of economics. He has little grip on what’s going on and believes propaganda.

We’re going to get CBDCs in 2023, and this is one of the scariest things on the horizon.

https://internationalman.com/articles/doug-caseys-1-speculation-for-2023/

by Doug Casey

International Man: Will 2023 be the year of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs)? Or will this terrible idea be consigned to the dustbin of history?

Doug Casey: CBDCs are a disastrous idea. But that’s never stopped “the elite” in the past. First, they did zero interest rates and negative interest rates, which I thought was metaphysically impossible. But they did it. Then they went to massive “quantitative easing,” a dishonest euphemism for money printing.

The next thing is going to be Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), which will give them unprecedented control over the finances of the average person.

On the one hand, it should be cause for a revolution because it will actually turn people into serfs. But on the other hand, the average American has almost no understanding of economics. He has little grip on what’s going on and believes propaganda.

We’re going to get CBDCs in 2023, and this is one of the scariest things on the horizon.

International Man: Will 2023 be the year uranium really takes off?

Doug Casey: Let’s recall the last uranium boom, which we were fortunate enough to catch back in 2001 to 2007. Uranium ran from $10 a pound up to $140 a pound. And that was in the days when the Russians and the Americans still had large nuclear weapon stockpiles, from which they recaptured lots of U-235 for use in reactors. That’s gone.

The West has become anti-oil, natural gas, and coal. It’s idiotically relying on wind and solar, which are totally unsuitable for mass power generation for an industrial civilization. However, I think that notwithstanding the semi-religious antinuclear dogma of many in the West, there’s going to be a nuclear renaissance, out of pure necessity. Hopefully, using fourth and fifth-generation nuclear technologies.

At the moment, uranium is about $50. I don’t doubt that it’s going to go to $100 or $150 and will take uranium stocks up with it, as it did the last time. So I’m very bullish on uranium.

International Man: What other macroeconomic and geopolitical trends do you see unfolding?

Doug Casey: These are a number of geopolitical trends unfolding.

First, let’s discuss China, the world’s biggest country.

There’s turmoil in China now, with large Chinese cities having been locked down due to the Covid hysteria. Perhaps it’s mainly a cover for Mr. Xi to crush revolutionary elements. Who knows? But that’s just one thing that China’s facing.

Most of their banks are bankrupt. All the money that Mr. and Mrs. Wu deposited over the years is very much at risk. That’s because banks have lent that money for schemes like the Belt and Road initiative, for building giant cities in the middle of nowhere, for building questionable highways and rail lines, and all sorts of showy infrastructure. Like most government projects, it will turn out to be a waste of capital.

The money that the banks used to finance those things is never coming home. So when Mrs. Wu goes to withdraw her money, she’s not going to get it unless the government prints a giant amount of yuan. She’ll be very angry. At that point, we may find that China is not a cohesive whole. It’s really, six, seven, or eight separate countries and that are kept together in good measure by force.

My guess is when the going gets tough, China could break up, as it’s done numerous times in the past. Will it coalesce again? Who knows? And what will Mr. Xi do about it? At this point, he’s got a tiger by the tail.

What do you do if you’re an authoritarian dictator with unsound communistic instincts? He’s going to tend to use force and coercion to hold things together. He’s not going to liberalize more—the reason why China had its tremendous boom during the first 20 to 30 years after Deng took over in 1980.

President Xi, like other dictators or authoritarian types, is going to clamp down more, not liberalize.

It’s something the people who belong to the World Economic Forum will approve of. It was very successful from their point of view on the Covid front…

See the rest here

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