China's Rise and the New Age of Gold: How Investors Can Profit from a Changing World

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Fracking Insanity

ITS BOOSTERS CELEBRATE fracking as the ticket to American energy independence and the savior of the U.S. economy. Its detractors excoriate it as a present and looming environmental catastrophe that is contaminating water supplies, spawning earthquakes, and releasing huge amounts of methane into the atmosphere, exacerbating global warming.

I call it a perfect example of short-term thinking, of America’s disheartening penchant in the past half century to seize on short-term fixes rather than invest in longer-term goals. I’d also call it an example of why we’re falling behind China when it comes to preparing for the future. And lastly, I’d call it another reason gold prices will rise.

Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is the ...