In all the years I have been writing this column (approaching 35) and in my writings elsewhere, I have to admit that I never foresaw the kind of immense changes that have been wrought during the past two months…

First, in order to compensate for the diminishment of purchasing power that usually accompanies rising inflation, investors normally have demanded higher interest rates on their investment assets. This was particularly true in the 1977-81 era when inflation soared to almost 20% and interest rates rose to roughly the same level.

While present official numbers remain quiescent at below 2%, we strongly believe the seeds of future inflation have now been laid via virtually unlimited currency creation by various central banks around the globe.

Perhaps the first and most important is the fact that the foreign exchange value of the US Dollar has been going down steadily for several months. As the value of the Dollar goes down, the price of goods in Dollar terms tend to go up…