The Wiggin Sessions

What is the best way to protect your money in a wartime economy?

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has many of us thinking about alternatives to the traditional monetary system. And wondering if the blockchain is a good backup plan.

So, can you safeguard your money by investing in cryptocurrency? What is the best way to approach this new asset class?

James Altucher is the former hedge fund manager and serial entrepreneur behind the Altucher Investment Network, a newsletter offering investment recommendations based on insights from James’ powerful network of business leaders and Wall Street insiders.

James is also the bestselling author of several books, and his latest release is called The Big Book of Crypto: How to Get Rich in the New Age of Digital Money.

On this episode of The Wiggin Sessions, James joins me to share his perspective on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and explain why gold is a ‘flight to safety’ for older generations, while younger generations prefer crypto.

James discusses how we might use the blockchain as an alternative to the centralized wiring system between international banks and describes several real-world use cases for crypto, like instant international eCommerce transactions or NFTs as event tickets.

Listen in for insight around crypto’s evolution from speculative investment to alternative monetary system and learn James’ thoughtful approach to managing your money in this new asset class.

[1:55] James’ perspective on the Russian invasion of Ukraine

[7:29] Why James is not worried about the price of oil in the US

[12:44] How gold serves as a ‘flight to safety’ for older generations, while younger generations prefer crypto (and the blockchain as an alternative to the centralized wiring system between international banks)

[17:23] Crypto’s evolution from speculative investment to alternative monetary system and some real-world use cases for crypto (e.g.: using NFTs for event tickets)

[23:02] The implications of the Fed creating a crypto version of the US dollar

[27:46] How James thinks about the volatility of Bitcoin and his thoughtful approach to managing money in crypto

[33:25] How tokens get ‘burned’ in the process of validating an Ethereum transaction

[36:20] How RNDR tokens are used to build 3D graphics for VR

[38:54] James’ intention in writing The Big Book of Crypto

[42:26] The resistance to how the blockchain might disrupt mainstream industries

[45:17] The solid arguments for $180K ETH and $500K BTC in the next few years

[48:47] How James makes decisions around what tokens to recommend in Altucher’s Investment Network

[51:00] The impact of Super Bowl ads for crypto trading platforms

Subscribe to Altucher’s Investment Network

The James Altucher Show

The Big Book of Crypto: How to Get Rich in the New Age of Digital Money by James Altucher and Chris Campbell

Consilience Financial

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5-Minute Forecast

Skip the Line: The 10,000 Experiments Rule and Other Advice for Reaching Your Goals by James Altucher

Choose Yourself! Be Happy, Make Millions, Live the Dream by James Altucher

The Choose Yourself Guide to Wealth by James Altucher

Reinvent Yourself by James Altucher

James Altucher on Wiggin Sessions EP009

Dmitri Alperovitch on Hidden Forces EP226

‘Here Comes $7 Gas’ in Bonner Private Research

SWIFT

Coinbase

Terra (LUNA)

Gary Kasparov

RNDR Token

‘New Alfa Romeo SUV Uses NFT and Blockchain to Track Car Records’ in Cointelegraph

Filecoin

Rancho Santana Nicaragua

Cathie Wood’s Ethereum Price Prediction

The Winklevoss Twins’ Bitcoin Price Prediction

The universe is rife with emerging autocracy markets with huge concentrations that are often too big of a risk for investors to take. This is where the freedom-weighted strategy comes into play.

Until recently, nobody has ever weighted the risks in the emerging market indexes based on the freedom levels in each country.  

Perth Tolle is the founder of Life + Liberty Indexes and the creator of the Freedom 100 EM Index (FRDM). She spent years living and working in both Beijing and Hong Kong, where her market observations led her to explore the relationship between freedom and successful investing in emerging markets. 

On this episode of The Wiggin Sessions, Perth joins me to discuss how she created the FRDM Index and the heightened risks associated with investing in autocratic markets.

Listen in to hear about Perth’s experience in China, the nuances of the free markets, and the relational differences between a free society and an autocratic society.. 

Perth’s experience living in China and realizing the difference freedom makes in both her life and in the market

The creation of the Freedom 100 EM Index (FRDM)

The metrics Perth uses to categorize countries based on their levels of civil, political, and economic freedom

The investment landscape’s relationship between a free society and an autocratic society

How all freedoms work together and the idea of “freedom thinking”

Why the risks are heightened when investing in the autocratic markets.

How the FRDM index is structured and when Perth needs to make changes

Why freer markets tend to have more sustainable returns recover faster from drawdowns

The audience Perth targets for the exchange-traded fund (ETF)

Perth on Twitter

Perth on LinkedIn

Life + Liberty

Consilience Financial

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5-Minute Forecast

Freedom-Weighted Emerging Markets ETF

If we want real solutions, society needs to drive the government. It shouldn’t be the other way around.

Unfortunately, the incentives are not in place. So how can we encourage new ways to funnel capital into local communities so they can solve the problems they face?

Charles Hugh Smith is the author of the Of Two Minds blog and has written 11 books on economics, the federal government, healthcare, and finance. His newest book, Global Crisis, National Renewal: A (Revolutionary) Grand Strategy for the United States, shines a light on how the systemic crises in the United States are reinforcing each other at dangerous points and the global crisis that offers America’s Grand Strategy an opportunity to rebuild.

On this episode of the Wiggin Sessions, Charles joins me to dive deeper into his new book and describe how a new, revolutionary Grand Strategy will be the ultimate factor in which nation-states fail, and which ones thrive.

Listen in to hear our conversation on the realignment of America’s Grand Strategies, how national progress evolves, and the importance of society driving the government.

Charles’ insight into the creation of his new book

How Grand Strategies are being focused too heavily on foreign policy when they should be focused on domestic issues

Charles’ proposition of an open-sourced, self-organizing economy based on labor

The realignment of Grand Strategies around scarcity of oil, energy, and capital

The “island of coherence” and how countries with that status are able to influence the rest of the world

How the world has stopped evolving and adapting

The importance of increasing incentives to focus on efficiency and funneling capital into local communities so they can solve their own problems

Why radical decentralization is key to solving global problems

Why society should drive the government instead of the government driving society

How national progress used to evolve through positive synergy and Charles’ idea of “fatal synergy”

Charles on Twitter

Charles on LinkedIn

Charles on Facebook

Consilience Financial

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5-Minute Forecast

Of Two Minds Blog

Articles by Charles on Daily Reckoning

Global Crisis, National Renewal: A (Revolutionary) Grand Strategy for the United States

The world seems to be in a bit of an uprising since the start of the pandemic. That is, until you look closer and realize our world has been pushing back against centralization since long before that. 

We’re often so closely involved in what we think is controlling our economy, investments, and finances that it becomes too much to make sense of. But when you zoom out, things become much clearer.

Mark Moss is an entrepreneur and owner of a successful YouTube channel dedicated to helping people build, grow, and protect their personal and financial sovereignty. 

On this episode of The Wiggin Sessions, Mark joins me to discuss how to grow and protect your wealth during major market disruptions.

Mark shares his thoughts on the historical cycles that are massively disrupting the market, the future of blockchain and the US dollar, and how the world is at peak centralization. 

Listen in to hear Mark’s advice on how to protect your wealth and learn why the world is at an uprising point and a shift to decentralization. 

Mark’s background with investing and his own financial struggles in 2008

Deep dive into three historical cycles massively disrupting the market: political, technical, and financial

Mark’s tips for growing and protecting your wealth during market disruptions

“Peak Centralization” and how society will move to decentralizing in order to pursue freedom

Mark’s perspective on why people must always produce before they consume

The historic and economic cycles that are converging and leading to revolution or a new monetary regime

Why blockchain could be an alternative to traditional monetary systems 

Factors that create wealth transfers (and how to be on the receiving end)

Mark’s insight on the future of the US dollar

Mark on Facebook

Mark on Instagram

Mark on LinkedIn

Mark on Twitter

Mark on Youtube

Consilience Financial

Be sure to follow The Wiggin Sessions on your socials. You can find me on—

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5-Minute Forecast

Mark’s Presentation

Mark’s Website

The Mark Moss Show

4 Pillar Blueprint Masterclass + Free Bundle

In this chaotic time of economic change, political debate, cryptocurrencies, and global conventions, it’s hard to know what the future holds. What should you do with your investments? What will “democracy” mean in the future? Why are progressives pushing modern monetary theory?

There are answers to these questions and it’s not a matter of right or wrong, smart, or dumb, or any measure of intelligence. You don’t have to be a mind reader; but you must pay attention. Global elitists will tell you what they want.

Jim Rickards is an economist, lawyer, editor, and investment banker with over forty years of experience working in capital markets on Wall Street.  He is also the author of multiple New York Times and National best-selling books on money and global finance.

On today’s episode of the Wiggin Sessions, Jim joins me to discuss the Davos Agenda at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, as well as his insights into the progressives’ agenda and investment banking.

Listen in as Jim gives advice for individual investors and those managing their own money, on how to diversify your investment portfolio and avoid overconcentration.

Jim Rickards’ extensive background as an economics, investments banker, author, and more

The Davos Agenda for 2022

Jim’s perspective on climate change and panic fear leading to the quest for global control

The current state of democracy and stress test of the US Constitution

Human nature’s desire for control and the effect that holds on world politics and history

The difference between central bank digital currencies (CBDC) and cryptocurrencies

Jim’s diversification advice and overconcentration warnings for individual investors and those managing their own money

Jim on Twitter

Jim on Facebook

Consilience Financial

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5-Minute Forecast

The Davos Agenda

Jim Rickards’ Strategic Intelligence

Jim Rickards’ Crash Speculator

Jim Rickards’ Tactical Currency Profits

Jim Rickards’ Books on Amazon

The World Economic Forum recently held its annual meeting in Davos, where the conversations focused on economic recovery and climate action.

Unfortunately, the Davos crowd is pushing for a Great Reset that imposes their values on all of us—and otherizes anyone who disagrees.

So, what are the key takeaways from the 2022 meeting in Davos? And what do you and I need to do to prepare for the potential consequences of those decisions?

Dan Denning is the architect, host and writer at Bonner Private Research, a newsletter that publishes independent investment research and analysis for individual investors and retirees.

On this episode of The Wiggin Sessions, Dan joins me to discuss the Davos agenda to reorganize the world’s economy, describing how taking over the financial system gives those at the top an unsurpassed level of control over individual choice.

Dan weighs in on Dr. Fauci’s keynote at Davos, sharing his take on the parallels between the church of the Middle Ages and today’s ‘scientism.’

Listen in for Dan's insight around the $130T Mark Carney committed to climate change initiatives and find out how Bonner Private Research can help you achieve the financial independence to survive the repercussions of government overreach.

How risk tolerance informs a community’s response to COVID and why risk assessment should happen on a local level

The danger in the Davos agenda to reorganize the world’s banking system and address climate change

Dr. Fauci’s keynote at Davos and the parallels between the church of the Middle Ages and today’s ‘scientism’

Klaus Schwab’s comments that by 2030 we’ll own nothing and be happy about it

How taking over the financial system gives those at the top an unsurpassed level of control over individual choice 

Why voluntary trade is the best way to regulate behavior between strangers

Mark Carney’s announcement on committing $130T to back climate change initiatives

Dan’s commitment to helping his readers acquire enough financial independence to survive the things that are out of our control

Why Bonner Private Research is choosing to self-publish on Substack and their efforts to build a community there

Bonner Private Research

Consilience Financial

Be sure to follow The Wiggin Sessions on your socials. You can find me on—

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5-Minute Forecast

Dan Denning on The Wiggin Sessions EP013

Davos Agenda 2022

COVID-19: The Great Reset by Klaus Schwab and Thierry Malleret 

Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism by Mariana Mazzucato

David Stockman’s Contra Corner: On Scientism

The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

COP26

In a Gallup poll conducted last August, Democrats were much more likely to overestimate the COVID hospitalization risk for unvaccinated people. 

Meanwhile, Republicans were more likely to overestimate the risks associated with the vaccine and underestimate its efficacy.

So, what’s behind this COVID hysteria? How does a doctor think about the trend toward vaccine coercion? And what effect has the ACA had on healthcare?

Dr. John Hunt is a recovering pulmonologist and immunologist turned libertarian economist and coauthor of The High Ground novel series.

On this episode of The Wiggin Sessions, John joins me to explain why there was a pandemic of COVID-positive tests rather than a true COVID-19 pandemic and describe who he would encourage to get vaccinated—and who doesn’t really need it.

John weighs in on the real pros and cons of the mRNA vaccine, discussing why it’s unethical to coerce people to get vaccinated when there’s no proof it will generate herd immunity.

Listen in for John’s insight on the misaligned incentives of Obamacare and learn his investment strategy for betting against global fiat currency.

John’s insight on how our fears around COVID are amplified by the media

Who John would encourage to get the COVID-19 vaccine (and who doesn’t really need it)

Why John believes there was a pandemic of COVID-positive tests rather than a true COVID pandemic

How the facts are lost when an illness gets politicized

John’s take on how the NIH guides scientific research in the US

How John thinks about the risk of mRNA vaccines to genetically engineer in certain people

Why it’s unethical to coerce people to get vaccinated when there’s no proof it will generate herd immunity

The misaligned incentives of Obamacare and how it inspired John to leave medicine

What John is doing to protect people’s finances when they’re ill or injured and need to interact with insurance

Why John suggests betting against fiat by investing in gold, silver and BTC 

The High Ground Novels

Consilience Financial

Be sure to follow The Wiggin Sessions on your socials. You can find me on—

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5-Minute Forecast

Gallup Poll on COVID-19 Hospitalization Risk 

‘David Stockman: Scientism Is the New Road to Serfdom’ in Technocracy News & Trends

Matt Kibbe on Free the People 

The Revolt of the Masses by Jose Ortega y Gasset

The Omicron variant of COVID-19 is raging around the world. How does it differ from the original virus and the Delta strain? Will Omicron mark the last big wave of the virus? And how do the three different kinds of vaccines work relative to the way the human body develops immunity on its own?

Ray Blanco is the science advisor to Consilience. He shares his investment research in Technology Profits Confidential and Ray Blanco’s Catalyst Trader, where he breaks down the science behind potential investments in technology and biotechnology companies.

Ray covers a wide range of tech and biotech sectors, including semiconductors, software, cloud computing, cancer therapies and anti-aging science.

On this episode of The Wiggin Sessions, Ray joins me to share his experience of quarantine in the Philippines and explain how the Omicron variant of COVID-19 differs from previous strains. 

Ray describes the differences among mRNA, adenovirus and traditional vaccines as well as the risks associated with each, exploring how the administration’s narrative around COVID has changed and why the CDC and FDA can’t admit they were wrong about the pandemic.

Listen in for insight on the benefits of the emerging Novavax vaccine and find out why Ray is bullish on investing in biotech companies right now.

Ray’s experience of COVID and quarantine in the Philippines

What happens when the COVID virus mutates into a new strain and how the Omicron variant differs from previous iterations

The Chinese paper around the potential mouse origin of Omicron

What happens from a scientific perspective when we contract Omicron and develop a memory of the virus in our immune system

The differences among mRNA vaccines, adenovirus vaccines and traditional vaccines

The risks associated with mRNA and adenovirus vaccines and why it’s not unreasonable to be concerned about their long-term effects

The purpose of getting a booster when our antibody counts drop

How the administration’s narrative re: COVID-19 has changed (and why it’s impossible for agencies like the CDC and FDA to admit they were wrong)

Ray’s insight on the benefits of the Novavax COVID vaccine

Why Ray is bullish on investing in biotech companies right now

Technology Profits Confidential

Ray Blanco’s Catalyst Trader

Consilience Financial

Be sure to follow The Wiggin Sessions on your socials. You can find me on—

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5-Minute Forecast

‘Evidence for a Mouse Origin of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Variant’ in the Journal of Genetics and Genomics

Novavax Coronavirus Vaccine

JP Morgan 2022 Health Care Conference 

Sangamo Therapeutics 

Editas Medicine

CRISPR Therapeutics

The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is an economic success story. In fact, the only event that’s sold more tickets is the Olympic Games! 

And as Dominic Frisby sees it, the festival proves Adam Smith’s economic theory of self-interest. 

Dominic is the world’s only financial writer and comedian. In his work as an actor, he has voiced everything from BBC nature documentaries to zombies in Hollywood Blockbusters. 

Dominic is a frequent speaker on gold and money on TV, radio and at conferences, and he is the author of several books, including Daylight Robbery: How Tax Shaped Our Past and Will Change Our Future.

On this episode of The Wiggin Sessions, Dominic joins me to discuss his new YouTube documentary, Adam Smith: Father of the Fringe, explaining how the Edinburgh Fringe Festival came to be and why it proves Adam Smith’s theory of capitalism.

Dominic shares his libertarian take on the ideological war playing out all over the world and describes his approach to investing in store-of-value assets like Bitcoin and gold.

Listen in for Dominic’s insight on the untold tax story behind every war ever fought and learn how he sees taxation as a measure of freedom.

How the Edinburgh Fringe Festival came to be and what makes it an economic success story

How the success of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival proves the unlikely realization of everything Adam Smith argued for

What it looks like to build a career around economics and comedy

Dominic’s take on the ideological war playing out all over the world

The libertarian views Dominic and I share

How Dominic thinks about taxation as a form of control 

The untold tax story behind every great event in history (e.g.: every war ever fought, the evolution of Christianity)

Dominic’s approach to investing in Bitcoin

Dominic’s insight on the history of gold and what would happen if we stopped mining for it

Adam Smith: Father of the Fringe

Dominic on YouTube

Daylight Robbery: How Tax Shaped Our Past and Will Change Our Future by Dominic Frisby

Bitcoin: The Future of Money? by Dominic Frisby 

Dominic on Money Week

Consilience Financial

Be sure to follow The Wiggin Sessions on your socials. You can find me on—

Facebook @thewigginsessions

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5-Minute Forecast

Edinburgh Fringe Festival

Institute of Economic Affairs

Empire of Debt: The Rise of an Epic Financial Crisis by Will Bonner and Addison Wiggin

The Vampire Comedian Comic Strip

Libertarian Love Songs 

Anthems for the Excommunicated

'Libertarian National Anthem’ 

Whiskey Rebellion

Guy Fawkes

The Daily Reckoning

The US embodies the idea of choice and self-determination like no other experiment in governance. And yet, most Americans don’t appreciate the rights bestowed by our founding documents. 

In fact, the progressive elites in power today and their neo-Marxist ideology threaten the very principles America is founded upon.  

Joel Bowman is a libertarian writer and cryptocurrency enthusiast. Born and raised on the Gold Coast of Australia, Joel emigrated permanently to ‘nowhere in particular’ in 2000, and he has been traveling the world ever since.

On this episode of The Wiggin Sessions, Joel joins me to discuss his debut novel Morris, Alive, describing how it offers an outsider’s perspective on the idea of America and fights against the Marxist ideology common in contemporary arts and literary fiction.

Joel explains how President Wilson undermined the fundamental beliefs of the Founding Fathers and explores how far today’s neo-Wilsonian progressives have drifted from the principles of their spiritual heroes of the 1960’s.

Listen in for Joel’s insight on exactly what’s wrong with Marxism and find out what we can do to counter the current attack on our founding principles being staged by progressive elites.

How Morris, Alive offers an outsider’s perspective on the idea of America

The themes of geographical and intellectual frontiersmanship among the giants of American letters

How the US embodies the idea of choice and self-determination like no other experiment in governance

The attack on the founding principles of America by progressive elites

Why contemporary arts and literary fiction are owned by neo-Marxists

Antonio Gramsci’s long Marxist march through academia and US political institutions 

How a Marxist worldview leads to conflict

How President Woodrow Wilson’s fundamental beliefs ran contrary to that of the Founding Fathers

How far today’s neo-Wilsonian progressives have drifted from the principles of their spiritual heroes of the 1960’s

Joel on Twitter

Morris, Alive by Joel Bowman

‘Center Cannot Hold: The Second Coming of Progressivism’ in The Modern Flaneur

Consilience Financial

Be sure to follow The Wiggin Sessions on your socials. You can find me on—

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5-Minute Forecast

Anya Leonard on The Wiggin Sessions EP032

Dan Denning, Anya Leonard & Joel Bowman on The Wiggin Sessions EP013

Jorge Luis Borges

Henry David Thoreau

L. Mencken

Lysander Spooner

Ernest Hemingway

Gertrude Stein

Walt Whitman

Woody Guthrie

Bob Dylan

Saul Bellow

John Updike

Miguel De Cervantes

William Shakespeare

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Manifesto of the Communist Party 

Antonio Gramsci

Adam Smith on the Division of Labor

I, Pencil

The Federalist Papers

Federal Reserve Act

Revenue Act of 1913

Empire of Debt: The Rise of an Epic Financial Crisis by Will Bonner and Addison Wiggin

The Covenant of the League of Nations

The Sedition Act of 1918