Monetary Collapse: Gold Standard or Chaos? with John Rubino
Monetary Collapse: Gold Standard or Chaos? with John Rubino
WTFinance: 2-18-2026
On this episode of the WTFinance podcast I had the pleasure of welcoming back John Rubino.
The conversation painted a stark picture of a financial system teetering on the edge of a massive structural shift.
From the unsustainability of the fiat currency system to the explosive risks in the AI stock market and the rising importance of tangible assets, Rubino offered a roadmap for investors navigating what could be a turbulent decade ahead.
The conversation began with a look at the macroeconomic foundations that have supported the global economy for the last 50 years. Rubino points to the pivotal year of 1971, when the U.S. abandoned the gold standard, effectively transitioning the world into a pure fiat currency system.
According to Rubino, this shift allowed governments and central banks to print money without restraint, leading to an explosion of global debt that has become mathematically impossible to repay through traditional growth. He argues that this prolonged monetary policy has created a system that is inherently unstable.
The inevitable conclusion? A “monetary reset.”
Rubino suggests that the current system is unsustainable and will eventually break, likely forcing a return to a form of gold standard or a system backed by hard assets.
While this might sound like a return to stability, the transition would be chaotic. A reset would drastically devalue the U.S. dollar and government bonds—the bedrock of most retirement accounts—potentially leading to widespread financial disruption and political unrest.
One of the most timely aspects of the discussion was the analysis of the current stock market, specifically the explosive growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and technology stocks.
Rubino draws a direct parallel between the current AI boom and the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s and early 2000s. He acknowledges that AI is a transformative technology that will profoundly reshape the economy. However, he warns that the stock market’s reaction to this technology has detached from reality.
Many AI-related companies are currently trading at astronomical valuations that are not supported by their current earnings or realistic future cash flows. Rubino predicts that a substantial market correction or crash in this sector is probable. Because the AI sector has become a massive driver of the broader market, a crash here wouldn’t be isolated; it could pull down the entire stock market and trigger a deep recession.
So, where should investors look for safety in an environment of currency debasement and stock market overvaluation? Rubino is bullish on precious metals, particularly gold and silver.
He describes a potential “crack-up boom”—a scenario where fiat currencies rapidly lose purchasing power, driving capital out of paper assets and into tangible stores of value.
For miners, this environment spells strong earnings growth. As the price of gold and silver rises, the profit margins for mining companies expand exponentially, making them a leveraged play on the underlying metals.
As the conversation concluded, Rubino offered a crucial piece of advice for investors: focus on long-term fundamentals, not short-term volatility.
In a volatile market, it is easy to get shaken out by daily price swings. However, Rubino argues that the underlying value of commodities and precious metals is driven by structural supply and demand dynamics that won’t change overnight.
While weaker investors may panic and sell during dips, those who understand the inevitability of the monetary reset and the fragility of the fiat system are positioned to benefit as the current financial order undergoes a significant shift.
The WTFinance episode with John Rubino serves as a sobering reminder that the current financial system is built on shaky ground.
While the timing of a “monetary reset” is impossible to predict, the warning signs—excessive debt, overvalued stocks, and currency debasement—are flashing red.
0:00 - Introduction
1:18 - Overview of economy
3:23 - Tech bubble?
8:51 - Precious metals major driver?
11:31 - Preventing deficits?
16:37 - Potential collapse?
18:14 - Gold & Silver trend
22:57 - Silver volume
29:44 - One message to takeaway?