Gold 'Effectively The Reserve Currency' Says Nassim Taleb (Full Interview)

The Black Swan author Nassim Taleb says the US dollar is losing its status as a reserve currency as central banks build up gold reserves and investors see the US as more risky. 

He pointed to the behavior of gold over the past 12 months as evidence that it's effectively now the reserve currency. The trend began under Joe Biden, he said, and has accelerated under Trump. 

The author also said President Donald Trump's approach to tariffs will depress US gross domestic product and could soon lead to labor shortages.

Taleb, who's also scientific adviser for hedge fund Universa Investments, said tariffs may be necessary, but they need to be "symmetric." Much of the US economy is based on cheap labor and constraining that input will have real knock-on effects, he said. 

"The way they're going about it makes no sense," Taleb said Tuesday on Bloomberg TV, referring to Trump and his economic advisers. The administration is trying to encourage lower-value added-business activity at the expense of more valuable enterprises, he said. 

"It's like asking a surgeon, just for balance, to clean the streets one day a week," he added.

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