From a glance at the article, the whole thing is a psyop.
Paraphrased summary: “Gold is dismissed as a barbarian relic of the past. It is not easy to liquidate. U.S. treasuries are much safer.”
Drivel. Slobbering drivel.
This move by Canada is, on a national level, the equivalent of New Coke and the M&Ms E.T. fiasco writ large.
Utterly stupid.
The U.S. is bankrupt. Its treasuries are worthless. The Emperor has no clothes. The U.S. dollar is a dead man walking.
And in the face of that, you, Canada, dump your gold?
Idiots.
This article is basically propaganda for people to sell their worthless gold and silver and not to buy real physical gold and silver.
Canada is in a somewhat unique position among nations. It has abundant agricultural and natural resources. It has generally clean air and water and possesses more than 25% of the world's fresh water supply. It does not share a border with any third world country and has access to the largest consumer market in the world. It's only neighbor is it's best ally and would never allow a foreign power to invade.
These facts make policy makers somewhat complacent and short sighted. Gold is, in fact, base money, the only real money, and a central bank should have some gold in it's asset mix whether they believe in its intrinsic value or not.
It is distressing to me personally that the BOC is selling all of its gold. However individual Canadians can insulate themselves against the insanity of their central bank. You can buy gold and silver coins and bars in Canada with no reporting requirements, no paper trail whatsoever. Even if the central bank doesn't want to own gold, individuals still can.
Canada may be rightfully calculating that their oil reserves are, and will be in the future, much more valuable than their gold reserves.
Maybe.
Canada's gold production increased 29% in 2014, making them the world's 5th largest producer, right behind #4, the USA.
Canada's 2014 production was 160 "tonnes" of gold, which I'm guessing is worth circa $6 billion.
So, if they ever really need gold reserves, they'd just go out back to the gold "money tree", and shake it. ;-)
