In Jan 1980 the ratio of dow to gold was 1:1 (872.78 for the dow vs $850 for gold).
The economy was bad then, but there was no shtf situation.
Can the economy get as bad as Jan 1980 again? Sure, why not?
Can the ratio of dow to gold hit 1:1 again? Sure, why not?
What would that mean in current $ terms? $5k gold and 5,000 dow? Sure, why not?
The price of Gold in US $ is determined not only by the strength or weakness of the US $, but also the global demand for gold (among other things).
Even with gold at $1k, and gold from $250 to $1k, gold was never “the thing to buy”. There hasn’t been a mania, a bubble, or anything of the sort. Conventional wisdom throughout this entire period has not been to buy gold.
When everyone wants to buy gold as if it was yahoo.com in 1999-2000, that’s your bubble, that’s when gold hits $5k.
I’m not saying that bubble is going to happen, but we’re not in a gold bubble right now, and a gold bubble doesn’t mean catastophe at all. Just investors getting excited about something else.
Gold at $800 in 1980 was a panic, it ran down later to $250. Silver also bubbled, as the ill-fated Hunt brothers tried to corner the market - went to $50 an ounce, then collapsed, as gobs of silver turned out of the woodwork, so to speak - zillions of people lined up to turn their silverware, candelabras, baby rattles, silver what have you's into $s.
It would have been a great time to buy 30 year treasuries then, getting up to about an 18% yield. But who knew?