There's a reason I keep inviting Jim Rickards back to my podcast.

Not because we agree - sometimes we don't - but because he's usually spotted something I need to hear...

And also every time I talk to him, I feel like I should be paying tuition.

The guy’s been everywhere, seen everything, and has the battle scars to prove it.

That’s why I had him on my podcast last week.

Here's the thing about Jim - when he tells you a story about the economy, it's not from reading textbooks.

He was in the room.

Like when Long-Term Capital Management almost crashed the entire global financial system in '98.

Jim was their chief counsel.

He was the guy negotiating the bailout while the whole world held its breath.

So when he tells me we might be heading into a recession, I listen. 

But, according to Jim, it's what comes after that matters.

For example, he drew this fascinating parallel to Reagan's presidency that got me thinking.

Remember 1981?

Reagan steps into office, inherits a mess, and boom - recession.

But then something happened.

From '83 to '86, the economy grew 16%. Not annually - total.

But still, that's more than anyone expected.

Jim thinks we might see the same movie play out with Trump's second term.

But here's where it gets interesting.

Everyone thinks the Fed controls everything through interest rates.

Jim says that's BS.

He told me this mind-blowing stat: during the longest economic expansion in U.S. history (2009-2019), interest rates were basically zero, but growth averaged a pathetic 2%.

"Low rates don't mean stimulus," he told me. "Hell, we had super low rates during the Great Depression."

So what really matters?

What Jim Really Thinks About Trump

Jim was at dinner in Washington recently at CPAC.

The host was going around the table pointing at people:

"There's our next Attorney General... there's our next Treasury Secretary..."

These weren't just random picks - there's a whole shadow transition team already working.

You’ll have to listen to the podcast to hear what Jim REALLY thinks about Trump’s picks, but I’ll say this:

It’s going to be a total shake-up.

The next few months are going to be wild.

But for the economy…

The big question isn't whether the Fed will cut rates - according to Jim, that's theater.

The real question is whether banks will start lending again, whether businesses will start borrowing again.

As Jim puts it, "When neither side wants to dance, nobody's dancing."

By the way, we also talked about Jim's new book about AI and money.

The stories he can tell about what's really going on behind the scenes... that's the stuff you can't get anywhere else.

Don’t miss this one. It’s one of my most popular yet.

He also dropped a bombshell about Silicon Valley Bank that nobody's talking about. (It’s SCARY.)

Check out the full episode here.

Stay tuned for part two where we dig into AI and the future of money.

By the way, if you like this kind of deep dive into what's really going on, subscribe to my podcast.