Jim Rickards: The Man Behind the Tweets
Jim Rickards is not only a best-selling author and a leading authority on global economics, precious metals, and capital markets, But also an advisor to organizations like the Pentagon, CIA, Congress, and Department of Defense.
Despite being labeled a conspiracy theorist by some, his bold claims are backed by four decades of experience overseeing multi-billion-dollar Wall Street bailouts. Moreover, many of his past predictions have proven accurate, while others – especially his latest predictions – are unfolding right before our eyes. Check out his Twitter account for the evidence.
Jim Rickards on Twitter: The Story Behind His Claims
1. The “Digital Dollar” Prediction
This Jim Rickards tweet from November 17, 2022, isn’t some new radical thought from him.
Over 13 years ago, he warned about the eventual demise of the U.S. dollar at a Johns Hopkins University lecture.
Fast forward to March 9, 2022, when President Biden signed Executive Order 14067. The Executive Order only claimed to address the risks and potential benefits of digital assets and their underlying technology.
However, Rickards cautioned that the fine print contained something much more sinister in Section 4. The eventual replacement of the U.S. dollar with a digital dollar.
Rickards called the idea behind a digital dollar “spyware” currency. He also cautioned that the end of the U.S. dollar meant the end of our fundamental rights and privacy.
He said a digital dollar could lead to:
- Legal government surveillance of all U.S. citizens
- Total control over your bank accounts and purchases
- The ability to silence all dissenting voices for good
- Well, now here we are. Rickards said Executive Order 14067 would lead to the 3rd Great Dollar Earthquake, comparable to when Franklin Roosevelt confiscated private gold in 1934 and when Nixon’ abandoned the gold standard in 1971.
It’s no longer an if but when, and Rickards saw it the whole time. Banking giants and New York Fed are starting a 12-week digital dollar pilot, and it’s anyone’s guess what happens next.
Related: Yes, a Digital Dollar is Really Coming
See how Rickards suggests protecting yourself from Executive Order 14067:
Sign Up for Jim Rickards Strategic Intelligence Research
2. Bitcoin and the Inevitable Collapse of FTX
Rickards knows a thing or two about corporate bailouts. While serving as general counsel for Long-Term Capital Management (LTCM), he successfully negotiated a $3.6 billion bailout in 1998.
When he saw Kevin O’Leary, aka Mr. Wonderful’s comments on the FTX collapse, he saw right through it. He said so in this November 15, 2022, tweet.
Rickards has been predicting an FTX-like event for years and warned against the dangers of crypto.
In a September 6, 2017, blog post, Rickards warned that cryptocurrencies aren’t all they claim to be. He called it “crypto-hysteria” and cautioned that the government and global elites would eventually destroy the industry and use it for control.
In Rickards’s 2019 Wall Street Journal bestselling book “Aftermath,” he explains the artificial inflation of global markets and how readers can intelligently protect their wealth. One of the asset classes he warned about was cryptocurrency.
In a Daily Reckoning post from March 1, 2021, Rickards claimed that bitcoin is built on fraud and will eventually collapse. He called the 2018 Bitcoin crash a preview of a more extraordinary crash. Eventually, crypto investors will be left broke.
Fast forward to today. FTX, the world’s fifth-largest crypto exchange, collapsed and took down the entire crypto industry. Moreover, according to Reuters, at least $1 billion of FTX customers’ funds have disappeared.
What’s become clear is the entire FTX operation was a giant Ponzi scheme “built on fraud,” just as Rickards warned about bitcoin. It’s our generation’s Enron or Bernie Madoff scheme. However, FTX’s scope and scale could dwarf both.
3. The Weaponization of Gold
For years, one of Jim Rickards’s most significant talking points has been the importance of gold and its weaponization. He talked about it in his March 2009 Johns Hopkins lecture and continued warning readers of it in his best-selling books and numerous blog posts.
In his first book, 2011’s “Currency Wars,” he specifically dove into the threat of clandestine Chinese gold purchases and currency manipulation.
In 2016’s USA Today and Wall Street Journal business bestselling “New Case for Gold,” Rickards explained why gold is as important as ever. Gold is still a store of value, a currency standard, and a hedge against global instability and market volatility.
In another book, he published that same year called “The Road to Ruin,” he claimed global elites knew of a looming financial crash and were hoarding assets to prepare.
Rickards’s November 1, 2022 tweet provides real-time evidence that what’s happening nowadays is what he warned about in his lecture and books. Central banks are buying gold at record levels, and “maybe they know something others don’t” he cautioned in the tweet. “Maybe it’s that Armageddon thing Biden’s pushing.”
4. China’s Threat to the U.S Economy
This October 25, 2022, tweet from Rickards builds on what he warned about over 11 years ago when he published his first book “Currency Wars.”
Rickards was one of the first to call out China so aggressively as our biggest adversary. He warned that China’s currency manipulation policies and clandestine gold purchases were the most severe threats to American national security.
Furthermore, he noted that in best-case scenarios, these policies lead to stealing growth and trade secrets. Worst-case scenarios can lead to inflation, recession, retaliation, and sometimes violence.
He got this right before the U.S. government ever did anything about it and before the American public woke up.
Here we stand in 2022, and China’s power and influence have never been higher. China has already surpassed the U.S. in terms of GDP based on purchasing power parity (PPP). It’s also poised to overtake the U.S. economy by 2028– several years earlier than anticipated.
Moreover, China’s influence could continue infiltrating and influencing U.S. society. After years of scoffing at the thought, the FBI director acknowledged that China’s TikTok poses national security concerns.
5. The US and its Dependency on Foreign Oil
As the global energy crisis worsens, Jim Rickards is taking a victory lap, saying, “I told you so.” His October 19, 2022 tweet chastises the Biden administration’s foreign policy and sheer hypocrisy. However, this is nothing new for Rickards to discuss, particularly regarding untrustworthy “friends” like Saudi Arabia.
In Rickards’s 2014 New York Times bestseller “The Death of Money,” he foretold the state of today’s global economy. He called out political gridlock and tensions with China and Russia. However, he was also sure to warn about overreliance on Middle Eastern oil producers. He said it would eventually lead to financial warfare and economic calamity.
We’re here in 2022, depleting our strategic petroleum reserves and ignoring any efforts to become energy independent. Meanwhile, our primary oil ally and strategic partner in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, mocks the President and continues cozying up to our biggest enemies in Russia and China.
The Key Takeaway
You can love or hate what Jim Rickards says. He has no filter, speaks his mind, and can come across as brash and over the top. His Twitter account is his mind on steroids. Yet there’s evidence for all of his claims.
Rickards boasts nearly 40 years of experience understanding the inner workings of the global financial system and the intricacies of governments and global elites. His perspective is that of someone who has seen how the world works. He’s seen it from an economist’s and government insider’s angles.
Sometimes, what he saw wasn’t pretty, and the truth hurts.
Even if he says things you don’t want to hear, many of the things he spoke about decades ago have come true. The evidence speaks for itself and is on his Twitter for everyone to see.