The federal government is poised to grant the Fed new powers that will change the game forever. Gold is trading at an all-time high, and Bitcoin is surging again as many people are seeking to protect their wealth in an uncertain economic time. The fact that both assets are climbing at the same time is evidence that people are pessimistic about the future. For years now, the Fed has kept interest rates artificially low, even near zero. And since the start of the lockdowns, they've printed $14 trillion. Typically, we would expect such radical stimulus to create a lot of inflation. However, the exact opposite has happened. All of that extra money has gotten "stuck" among the financial elite, never actually making it into the hands of the consumers who drive the spending that creates inflation. This is part of the reason that the federal government made the $1200 direct stimulus payments and the $600/week unemployment insurance payments. But trying to process direct payments through Congress is slow and clunky. So now the Fed is talking about bypassing the politicians and depositing money directly into people's bank accounts. This episode is brought to you by our sponsors: Feetures (Code: STAPLETON) Helix Sleep