The Financial Times says that the US is "beset by uncertainty", while stable, gold-heavy Russia is "worth another look"

Moscow's appetite for gold has been all over the news this month. In early February, Bloomberg reported that Russia and China were dumping U.S. treasuries for gold in order to "shield themselves from the U.S. government's ability to control the value of their holdings."

Since then, it's been revealed that Russia has accelerated its gold-buying spree as it works towards a "gold ruble" strategy that will safeguard against western economic warfare.

Putin knows.

The Financial Times — widely considered the world's most authoritative financial daily — has now made its own opinions on this matter clear: "The western world has insane amounts of debt" while Russia is stable, well-positioned and undervalued.

FT's parting piece of advice: Because of the west's "unsustainable debt", everyone should follow Russia's example — buy gold.

Here is the relevant nugget of gold from FT columnist Merryn Somerset Webb:

[T]he Russian stock market — despite its stellar year — is cheap, unloved and under-owned. So you should buck the trend by at least owning a little of it. On to the last thing, gold. The case here is very, very simple. The western world has insane amounts of debt (the UK debt-to-GDP ratio is still 85 per cent — and that’s before you even start on unfunded liabilities). History tells us that one way or another unsustainable debt is dealt with by inflation. Gold is the best hedge there is against that. I still hold it — physically and in the form of exchange traded funds — and I will until the finances of our governments are firmly under control. So probably forever.

Russia is ten steps ahead of you.

2017 is going to be a hell of a year.