Shrub Unplugged: Gold, Grift & Debasement

9 snips

Sep 23, 2025

Le Shrub, a market commentator and writer known for his engaging macro memes, dives into the concept of a 'Golden Age of Grift'. He discusses the permanence of currency debasement and how it reshapes investment strategies, specifically through a barbell approach of balancing real assets and speculative trades. Shrub highlights overlooked commodities and presents Brazil as a potential key player in the market landscape. His unique blend of humor and insight offers a fresh perspective on navigating today's chaotic financial environment.

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INSIGHT

Grift Drives Persistent Currency Debasement

Le Shrub calls 2025 the "Golden Age of Grift" and argues grift causes currency debasement.
He says modern debasement is persistent because reserve-currency status lets it continue until something breaks.

ADVICE

Barbell Portfolio For Grift Era

Use a barbell portfolio: one side long real assets and emerging markets, the other side for speculative "grift" trades.
Hedge with small put purchases as a "sacrifice to the market gods" to protect gains.

ANECDOTE

2008 Gold Bars Taught Timing Limits

Le Shrub recounts buying physical gold in 2008 and later selling before a crash, which taught him timing limits.
That experience made him prefer a diversified real-asset bucket over large outright gold allocations.

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