Bonner Private Research
Fatal Conceits Podcast
Byron King on Russia, Energy and Gold - Part II
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Byron King on Russia, Energy and Gold - Part II

Mountains of ammunition, Japan's energy predicament, a methane-backed ruble and plenty more...
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And now for some more Fatal Conceits…


Last week we brought you Part I of our conversation with Harvard trained geologist and natural resources expert, Byron King. There was a lot on the table for discussion.

For instance…

Have you noticed news from the Ukraine seems to have dwindled over recent weeks? What was once non-stop, wall-to-wall coverage now garners comparatively little attention. Of course, there are other issues at hand… like inflation at a four-decade high… the worst start to the year for stock markets in half a century… and for bond markets in over 200 years…

And now, we learn that the US has registered two consecutive quarters of negative GDP… the common definition for a recession, and the one practically everyone who follows the economy at all still uses.

But all that doesn’t mean the impacts of the war – and the west’s response to it – are not working their way through the system. In fact, the knock-on effects for international energy markets, global supply chains and even sovereign currencies could hardly be overstated.

As usual, Byron had plenty of insights on all of the above, and more. (If you missed Part I of our conversation, you can catch up here.)

In Part II of the discussion, we pick up the action with the idea of a “methane-backed ruble.” That is, what happens if and when Mr. Putin decides he wants to back his national currency, which is stronger today than it was before the first tank rolled across the Ukrainian border, with Mother Russia’s vast energy reserves?

What does that do to the heretofore assumed petrodollar hegemony? Might Japan, almost entirely dependent on foreign energy (mostly from Russia), be forced to settle its contracts in Russian rubles? What are the other BRICS nations (Brazil, India, China and South Africa) thinking, as they stand by and watch the weaponization of the US dollar? Might an alternative to the petrodollar begin to look attractive to them?

There’s so much to cover, from the war itself to Russian military supplies, the unipolar verses multipolar political landscape, the philosophy of Eurasianism and much, much more…

You can listen to the entire episode by simply hitting play above or downloading the Substack app (see the little headphones button there to listen in).

Oh, and if you like what you hear, please help us spread the word by sharing this episode with comrades and enemy combatants alike, right here…

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For Bonner Private Research members, there’s a full transcript, lightly edited for clarity, below the paywall and on our Substack Page. If you’re not already a subscriber, but would like to enjoy the many benefits that come with membership, you can sort that out right here.

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We hope you enjoy the show…

Cheers,

Joel Bowman

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Bonner Private Research
Fatal Conceits Podcast
A podcast about mobs, markets and manias.
Each week, Joel Bowman sits down with a member of Bill Bonner's private research team to discuss the pressing issues of the day. From high finance to lowly politics, irrational markets and international real estate, great wine and classical books, nothing is off the table in these freewheeling discussions. New episodes every Sunday.
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Joel Bowman