Eric Sepanek
SBC Founder
Eric Sepanek is the founder of Scottsdale Bullion & Coin, established in 2011. With extensive experience in the precious metals industry, he is dedicated to educating Americans on the wealth preservation power of gold and silver.
Gold is amid a historic breakout, which Jim Thorne expects to launch prices to $5,000/oz by the end of Donald Trump’s term. The Chief Market Strategist for Wellington-Altus hitches this bold prediction to three macro forces: global dollar displacement, slow domestic growth, and liquidity rotation.
Dollar’s Demise Births a Multipolar Economy
Since the Bretton Woods Agreement, the US dollar has been the nucleus of the global economy, especially after the abandonment of the gold standard. As Thorne points out, the growing weight of de-dollarization, fiscal mismanagement, and declining living standards may be drawing the final curtain on the dollar’s reign as the world’s reserve currency.
De-Dollarization
The global move to reduce USD dependence gained speed in 2022 after Western sanctions on Russia. Countries are shifting to alternative currencies and physical gold, with central bank gold demand staying above 1,000 tons annually.
Fiscal Mismanagement
The dollar suffers from self-inflicted wounds at the hands of the federal government. Decades of unchecked spending have burdened the greenback with a $36 trillion mountain of national debt and over two straight decades of deficits.
Falling Standard of Living
A frustrated public is adding pressure to the dollar’s decline, as Americans grow increasingly angry over a falling standard of living, stagnant wages, and rising costs.
The dollar’s demise is giving birth to a multipolar global economy, Thorne suggests. These internal and external factors have simply made it so that the “United States can no longer afford to support the world.”
Slowing Economy Spikes Safe-Haven Demand
The economic engine might be sputtering, but interest in gold is revving up as investors seek out safe-haven assets amid widespread uncertainty and extreme volatility. “Inflation isn’t the problem,” says Thorne. “It’s slowing growth.”
With experts raising their recession forecast to 56% and Q1 GDP sinking to -0.3%, the economic outlook is bleak.
Thorne doesn’t believe the US is headed for a recession, but if one does occur, he expects it won’t hit until 2026.
For now, the Chief Market Strategist views the recent market pullback as nothing more than a “normal, natural, and healthy” correction.
Regardless, the combination of falling growth, rising uncertainty, and easier monetary policy creates gold-positive conditions (and stagflation fears).
Global Liquidity Rotation Into Gold & Silver
This downward trend in economic output has central banks scrambling to expand their balance sheets and slash interest rates. This quantitative easing cycle supports higher gold prices in several key ways:
- Making traditional yield-based investments less rewarding, which shifts attention to assets like gold.
- Flooding the market with liquidity, giving investors more capital to deploy across safe-haven assets.
- Undermining confidence in fiat currencies, increasing gold’s appeal as a long-term store of value.
Gold Headed for a “Crazy Phase”
Jim Thorne sees a powerful setup unfolding for gold. “I think…gold will be $5,000…by the end of the Trump term,” he says—a bold forecast that aligns with a growing chorus of experts saying $5,000/oz gold could be here faster than you might think.
Thorne’s projection implies nearly a 100% gain from early 2025 levels. Despite gold already hitting new highs, he believes the real action is still ahead:
“We haven’t seen the crazy phase yet. My personal opinion would be to buy physical gold.”