I recently read Valerie Farina’s article, “Weathering the Next Recession,” published in the Salt Spring Exchange on August 31, 2026. I read it after receiving questions about whether the article’s conclusions should affect retirement investment decisions.
That experience is also why I decided to write this response.
Let me start with something that may be surprising: my disagreement is not primarily with many of the concerns raised in the article. The article raises concerns about U.S. government debt, inflation, long-term bond yields and the supply of silver. These factors may affect markets differently over time and do not, on their own, predict the future price of gold or silver.
My concern is what happens between those concerns and the investment conclusions readers are asked to draw from them.
For example, the article discusses manipulation in precious-metals markets and uses the JPMorgan case as part of a broader argument that …