Alasdair Macleod: "Fiat Currency System: 18 Months Before it Dies"

Alasdair Macleod tells Paul Buitink the Fed’s latest hike does not buy time. He gives the fiat system about 18 months. A 10-year yield above 5% could burst an equity bubble bigger than 1929. Energy and food shocks from war, drought, and blocked grain will push inflation higher while governments cannot afford the rates needed to stop it. Rescue QE would then destroy currencies. AI valuations look unsupported next to cheap Chinese rivals such as DeepSeek. Dutch gold leaving New York, after similar German and French moves, suggests the metal may not be there. Trust in the dollar is fading; gold is the exit.Follow Alasdair here:https://www.macleodfinance.com/Follow Paul on X here:https://x.com/paulbuitinkTimestamps0:00 Opening clip: crash stages and gold custody doubts2:18 Fed hike to 4% — does it buy time?5:00 Energy shortages, logistics, food and winter risks8:28 Oil in gold terms; fiat purchasing power12:00 Equity crash, bank credit, Keynesian rescue13:00 Stage one / stage two of a crash; 1929 parallel16:10 Sponsor break / gold ad16:11 Can AI and Musk “grow out of” the debt?19:41 Why “18 months” — complacency vs crisis now21:47 Why 5% on the 10-year matters for stocks24:54 Bretton Woods 2? Why a gold reset is unlikely27:00 Politics over economics; Trump and the Fed28:55 Wars, Gulf energy shock, much higher yields30:22 China, gold standard, low Chinese yields31:12 Dutch, Norwegian, Japanese bond selling32:34 Dutch gold move from New York; NY Fed custody35:00 Bundesbank, Banque de France, “gold that isn’t there”36:00 Property rights, frozen reserves, loss of trust38:19 Trend: dump dollars, buy gold in the market39:43 Outro and Substack plug