For “hard money” advocates, this has been a remarkable month. Gold has risen by more than $100, silver has begun to surge, and the headlines are full of news items quite capable of raising public concerns to crisis levels.

…2017 was just the first year with a small increase after a huge drop off in exploration activity. It may take many years of future increases to get back to where the activity was in 2012, as projected increases in exploration spending are seen to be slow and steady.

Perhaps the heart of our pro-gold thesis is this consideration: governments are inherently inefficient, they attempt to provide services far beyond their genuine fiscal ability and these trends result in deficit financing, growing debt levels and ultimate “watering” down of currency values.