On March 28, 2022, Russia pegged the ruble to gold at the rate of 5,000 rubles per gram through June 30, 2022, or about $1,600 per troy ounce. The deadline for renewal is approaching. In Russia, a gram is a weight and the ruble is the measure. One ruble is .0002 gram gold. Few understand the implications.

The Russian gold peg has had huge consequences in nearly every market, yet economists are like ostriches with their heads in the sand.

For a time beginning in October 1933 and lasting through January 1934, FDR implemented the Gold Repurchase Plan and literally set the gold price daily with the purpose to devalue the dollar until revalued at $35.00 per troy ounce in 1934 from $20.67 in 1932.

This is the closest analogy we have to the Putin Gold Peg but in reverse. It should surprise no one if what is coming makes The Great Depression look like a Sunday School Picnic and remembered far beyond forgotten Korea, Viet Nam, the Balkins, Somalia, 911, Iraq, Afghanistan, Lybia, or the January 6th “insurgency” and perhaps even The American Revolution and Civil War.

The sanctions against Russia are backfiring on the West beyond popular comprehension. Integrity is the foundation for faith, full credit, and confidence in a Nation.

While it remains to be seen if Russia can relearn the lost art of commercial banking, the cost of living will likely drop sharply, and the standard of living sharply rise in Russia, compared to the West and especially compared to the United States.

The recovery will be a unique Russian recovery uniquely measured apart from U.S dollar measures of macroeconomics. IKEA, Starbucks, and Mcdonald's will not be missed but replaced with a uniquely Russian twist. It will be an economic recovery the West will likely not see or understand.

While Putin is universally condemned by the West, this is not so by other major nations like Mexico, India, China, or the Middle East. A major economic shift has occurred but the United States is operating as though nothing has changed.

America should not grieve at being forced to sleep in the bed that they alone have made. Rather, hopefully, America will finally learn.