Seven-time, best-selling financial author James Rickards predicted in his most recent best-seller called "Sold Out" why broken supply chains would cause big inflation.

He was right, and he still contends, "Supply chain problems and inflation are not over."  For an example of the supply chain still being in fragile shape, look no further than the failed grain deal between Ukraine and Russia last week.  Rickards points out,

"Putin has been very patient about this.  He had a deal. Ukraine was not living up to their end of the deal.  Putin says we are the ones getting attacked, so, screw the deal.  What's that going to do to the price of grain?  It's going to send grain prices up, and it's already up 10% just in a matter of days."

This brings us the new BRICS gold-weighted currency (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) that might be announced in the middle to the end of next month.  Rickards calls one unit of currency a "BRIC."  This is a competitor to the U.S. dollar, but Rickards says, "It's not a reserve currency..."

"...I think it may be 8 grams of gold to one "BRIC" (currency), but I don't know.  What I do know is it does not matter.  What does matter is they are going to anchor it to a weight of gold... It's NOT redeemable in gold, it is anchored to it...

Let's says a "BRIC" is worth one ounce of gold.  Today that is $1,970 per ounce, except the "BRIC" is NOT anchored to the dollar.  It is anchored to gold, which stands in the middle of this equation.  So, the dollar price of gold is going to be going up and down all the time, which means the dollar/"BRIC" exchange rate is going to be going up and down all the time.  They don't have to defend the "BRIC."  They have gold, but they don't have to back it up with gold. . . . They actually don't need any gold...