Even many conservatives [FReepers among them] pooh-pooh the idea of gold as money. Better, they say, to have ammo or food to trade.
Well, in a world pushed back to a state of barter, they might have a point. But if some semblance of modern commerce is to be maintained once the fiat currencies lose their value, then gold will be the logical replacement.
Oh, and if the Internet remains after the crash, BitCoin and its ilk will still play a role -- it will be traded for gold, though, instead of Dollars and Euros. Its value will always be defined in terms of other money; not in and of itself. It's intangible.
Ultimately, wealth consists in tangible goods.
Because China doesn’t need to buy votes with entitlement spending.
Our government probably sold the German gold to the Chinese.
“because she knows that in the final analysis gold is the only true money.”
This of course is not true... A scarce commodity is only of value if somebody else wants it. If China had possession of every oz of gold and nobody else wanted it, it wouldn’t be good for much.
I am not discounting the value of gold as a currency or a medium of wealth that will never be worth nothing. However, it is possible that the Chinese may be hopping out of the frying pan (buying tons of low yield U.S. debt) and into the fire (substituting gold for a way to manipulate the value of their currency). It is not impossible to envision a time not too long from now where the U.S. interest rates are double what they currently are and the price of an ounce of gold is significantly less than what it is now. Their holdings will have been crushed in value unless they hold the debt to maturity (taking a beating on inflation and opportunity risk) as well as lower commodity prices. Not to say this WILL happen, but it is a valid scenario.