Who owns the gold?

7 February, 2024

An overlooked aspect of geopolitics is the defensive action taken by Asian hegemons and their close allies against a collapse of the Western currency system.

Unlike our economists who are overwhelmingly Keynesian, the economic tradition from Soviet and communist China was that the West’s capitalist system would collapse. Admittedly, China’s economists have increasingly studied in the West and picked up Keynesian concepts, but they remain acutely aware of the weaknesses of our capitalist system.

This is why they have secretly accumulated gold as the ultimate protection against a collapse of the fiat dollar and allied currencies. The only reason preventing China from putting her renminbi onto a gold standard immediately is that it would trigger a collapse in Western currencies, with consequences for her export industries. She will only take this action defensively. Russia would probably prefer a more immediate move to back the rouble with gold but is constrained in her partnership with China.

This article assesses the hidden gold reserves of China and Russia and their potential deployment.