This is CBS, I in the World, I'm John Bachelor.

Welcome home Michael Bernstein of the Hoover Institution,

traveling luxuriously in beautiful Italy,

but now back to the watching very carefully of the Russian economy.

We begin with something Michael identified some weeks ago, but it's now a major feature.

Gold prices are very high and can go higher because of demand.

Why demand?

Michael, China. We connected that's last time, but now it is, we have direct evidence that the Chinese

Central Bank has a policy and a policy is to withdraw from the dollar-denominated assets and to go into gold, because in any time the sanctions are imposed, the world is domestic, the world is inside, and the world's in the basement of the central bank, and the

dollar-inominated assets, forgive me, they are not physical assets.

They are now on the computer where you in the digital world.

So all United States bonds which any central bank in the world, Chinese or Russian or anywhere

owns, are on the computer of the New York Federal Reserve.

The New York Fed is responsible for managing the United States debt.

And so with the key stroke it can be sanctions it can be

frozen so the Chinese are now withdrawing from the dollar

gineminated assets they used to have 1.25 trillion dollars or dollar generated assets of their portfolio

of 3.5 trillion dollars of foreign exchange reserves.

Now they are down to $775 billion. But their gold is expanding. Still not

much, it's $135 billion worth. But they're buying gold around the world, there is a running gold, and the price is doubled since 2021. Now it is $2,300 per 2 ounce. It's a world record. It's never been as high. And China is the world largest buyer.

Someone said like there is no tomorrow.

And the China buying, the New York Times report that has this headline,

...