Russia's gold & near-zero debt give it best chance of thriving in post-coronavirus apocalypse – Max Keiser

The coronavirus pandemic has popped a quadrillion-dollar financial bubble and we can expect a very deep and prolonged period of adjustment, RT's veteran business commentator Max Keiser believes.

The financial crisis, which many believe we have just entered, stems from the times of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, with the establishment of 'neoliberal' policies "that enriched bankers and destroyed workers by giving bankers free reign to borrow and speculate without oversight or accountability," Keiser told RT. Now, governments will have to adjust to a new reality, and having a low debt and massive reserves could be the trump card, according to the former Wall Street stockbroker.

"Russia has the best hand at the geopolitical poker table. The Kremlin, for 20 years, has been doing the opposite of everyone else by reducing their national debt to near zero, and buying thousands of tons of gold while simultaneously raising living standards," he said.

Moscow has been boosting its gold and foreign currency holdings in recent years to shield its economy against any turmoil. According to the latest data published by Russia's central bank, the reserves have recently eclipsed $580 billion.

"Saudi Arabia by contrast, is in deep fiscal trouble and the problems there will be enormous. The US will repeat the experience of the Great Depression, but America has a knack for innovating their way out of problems," said Keiser. He added, however, that measures to prevent the coronavirus from spreading further could hamper America's anti-crisis efforts.

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