On behalf of Matterhorn Asset Management / GoldSwitzerland, financial journalist Lars Schall met economic researcher and geopolitical analyst F. William Engdahl for a special video-interview series in three parts in order to examine some aspects of the current state of the world.

By Lars Schall

The following interviews were conducted for and originally published by Matterhorn Asset Management / GoldSwitzerland in Zurich.

In the first part, “The Race Out of the Door,” you see them talk about, inter alia: the deeper causes for the financial crisis; modern banking as a giant confidence game; America’s so called “Asia Pivot” and the Trans-Pacific Partnership; the bubbles in American stock and global bond markets; and too much power in too few hands on Wall Street.

Mr. Engdahl states that all we see during the financial crisis is a prolonging of the race out of the door. The crisis isn’t just the result of a bubble in the U.S., which has been popped, but it goes much deeper. Yet, the underlying causes aren’t tackled at all. Instead, we experience the problems with a banking system that creates money with little collateral behind it; it’s all a giant con-game, says Mr. Engdahl. Moreover, he explains his views on the geopolitical game that’s going on between China and the United States, in particular the challenges for the US dollar vis-à-vis a growing internationalization of the Chinese currency in bilateral trade agreements.

In the second part, “There is No Such Thing as a Free Market,” they talk about, inter alia: the managed nature of the precious metal markets; the naked short selling in the paper gold and silver markets; the rising gold stocks in vaults in China; the declining gold stocks in Western vaults; and the long-term perspectives for both physical gold and silver.

Mr. Engdahl addresses the demand for physical precious metals coming from Asia / Eurasia. The genuine market trend, he says, is that the central banks in that region – in particular the central bank of China – will continue to buy gold in increasing amounts. Moreover, Engdahl talks about the gold reserves of the Western central banks, especially those of Germany and the U.S. Asked about his long-term expectations for gold, he states that he is “enormously optimistic”.

In the third part, “The world isn’t running out of oil; it’s running into it,” they address crucial issues with respect to the crude oil business and its geopolitical dimensions. Inter alia, they discuss: the importance of oil for the whole social life; the beginning of the petrodollar; the research of Russian scientists on the origin of oil; and the fracking hype in the United States.

Mr. Engdahl highlights some developments of the second half of the 20th century as they relate to oil. In particular, he discusses the different theories on how hydro carbons are actually created. From his point of view, the peak oil theory is pretty much discredited. Moreover, he talks about the background for the record high oil prices in 2007-08, and explains his concerns with regards to the unsustainable “fracking bubble”.

F. William Engdahl, born 1944 in Minneapolis, U.S.A., is an American-German journalist, historian, economic researcher, geopolitical analyst, book author, and publicist. He grew up in Texas, and after earning a degree from Princeton University in engineering and jurisprudence in 1966, and graduate study in comparative economics at the University of Stockholm from 1969 to 1970, he worked as an economist and free-lance journalist in New York City and in Europe. His major topic of research is the geopolitics of oil. In addition to discussing oil and energy issues, he has written on issues of agriculture, GATT, WTO, IMF, global politics and economics for more than 35 years, beginning with the first oil shock and world grain crisis in the early 1970′s.

He is the author of the international best-selling book on oil and geopolitics, “Century of War: Anglo-American Oil Politics and the New World Order,” published 1992, revised 2004 (Pluto Press, London). Furthermore, Mr. Engdahl has written the following books:

-“Seeds of Destruction: The Hidden Agenda of GMO”, Centre for Research on Globalization Publishing, 2007;
– “Full Spectrum Dominance: Totalitarian Democracy in the New World Order“, Third Millennium Press, 2009;
– “Gods of Money: Wall Street and the Death of the American Century”, edition.engdahl, 2010;
– “Myths, Lies and Oil Wars“, edition.engdahl, 2012.

Mr. Engdahl belongs to the more widely discussed analysts of current political and economic developments, and his provocative articles and analyses have appeared in numerous newspapers and magazines and well-known international websites on economics and political affairs. Moreover, he is an Associate Editor and Research Associate of Michel Chossudovsky’s Centre for Research on Globalization (www.globalresearch.ca). He has also spoken at numerous international conferences on geopolitical, economic and energy subjects, and is active as a consulting economist.

F. William Engdahl lives in Germany and may be reached via his website www.engdahl.oilgeopolitics.net.