Breaking the Dollar

The news media has been covering the story that the wholesale store Costco has been selling one-ounce gold bars. Although it's obviously a strange story, these news articles have missed some of the major points about the story. In this episode, Everett recaps what's going on with the Costco gold bars and sets the record straight about what everyone else is overlooking about this odd story.

What exactly is a CBDC? In this episode Everett breaks down the emerging technology of central bank digital currencies. He discusses the latest developments in the space, how CBDCs work, and -- most importantly -- the conversations that the public needs to have in order to best manage the cool benefits and grave risks of government-issued digital currencies. He also responds to a question from the audience about a rare Lincoln cent error.

This episode marks the triumphant return of Breaking the Dollar after a long hiatus. Host Everett Millman recaps the many developments in his career since the podcast last aired. He also gives a firsthand account of what has been going on in the gold and silver bullion market over the past few years to provide insight into how the industry has dramatically changed over that time.

In this episode of Breaking the Dollar, Everett examines a fascinating historical anecdote about Mansa Musa, the king of the Mali Empire in West Africa during the late-13th and early-14th centuries. Was he really the richest man of his time? How much gold did Musa have? The story also brings up interesting points about the economics of gold as money.

This episode picks up on the previous discussion of moral hazard, fraud, and accounting shenanigans on Wall St. Everett challenges the notion that small speculators and Robinhood traders are the cause of the problem. He wraps up by catching up on some questions from the audience.

A lot of outlandish frauds and comical ethical conundrums have been cropping up in the financial markets of late. Perhaps more concerning, this type of behavior on Wall St is becoming normalized -- especially with everyone distracted by covid-19. In this two-part episode, Everett walks through several of the most prominent cases of companies "gone wild" on Wall St in 2020. He explains how these unethical acts are interconnected with several economic issues that have been discussed on Breaking the Dollar in the past.

One of the unexpected side effects of the coronavirus pandemic has been a lack of coins circulating around the economy. Pocket change is at a premium as many businesses remain closed and the United States Mint operates at limited capacity. This development lends itself to a related discussion: the long-overdue elimination of the one-cent coin, which loses tens of millions of dollars for the Treasury each year, and the broader "war on cash."

For a decade, treasure hunters have been scouring the Rocky Mountains to find a chest full of gold and gemstones hidden there by an art dealer named Forrest Fenn. The treasure was finally discovered last month -- but only after many years of controversy. Find out more about the backstory of Fenn's treasure and why it stirred so much dissension in the local press.

A prominent European hedge fund manager recently predicted that governments will soon seize their citizens' privately held gold in order to stave off a financial collapse. Is gold confiscation really going to happen again, like it did in 1933? Everett confronts this ever-present bogeyman and what it can teach us about the nature of how the government controls its currency.

Why on earth did the WTI crude oil contract price go deeply negative for one day in April? What does a negative oil price even mean? In this podcast episode, Everett explains what unusual dynamics in financial markets caused futures prices to trade in negative territory. He also provides some context about the tug-of-war between Russia, Saudi Arabia, and the United States over the oil market in general.