Paul Buitink talks to prominent economist Robin Brooks, who is based in Washington. Robin was Head of FX at Goldman Sachs, Chief Economist at the International Institute of Finance and currently Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution.They talk about why the end of the euro is desirable and inevitable. Robin is also no fan of eurobonds. They discuss debt sustainability across the world, and Japan in particular, and why this is driving the debasement trade. The latter means the massive buying of hard assets such as gold, silver and platina. Robin expects this trend to continue in 2026.Robin and Paul also discuss geopolitics and how Europe should deal with the US, Russia and China. What to do with sanctions and frozen Russian reserves they disagree on.Don't miss this thought-provoking conversation.Follow Robin here:https://x.com/robin_j_brookshttps://robinjbrooks.substack.com/Follow Paul on X here:https://x.com/paulbuitinkTimestamps:0:00 Teaser1:58 Background Robin Brooks3:40 His career at Goldman Sachs5:39 The debasement trade and unsustainable debt9:48 Gold and silver to surge in 202612:17 Macro puzzles and bond yields14:13 Central bank intervention in yields, MMT17:06 Why the euro is failing32:16 Why Germany and The Netherlands need to build alternatives35:47 ECB and Transmission Protection Instrument42:54 A divorce within the eurozone is needed46:24 Russian frozen assets and gold50:00 Central bank gold buying51:30 Effects of confiscation for the euro53:37 Decoupling strategies for the EU59:30 Nuclear escalation in conflict West vs Russia1:03:30 Angell's paradox on sanctions1:05:56 Outro