That's far too subject to hyperdeflation as your currency either dies of old age or reverts back to the more common Democrat.
I propose a monetary standard based on cheap Italian cars.
Posted on 12/01/2005 10:40:52 AM PST by .cnI redruM
Does gold as a monetary standard terrify so-called "economists" so much because it provides a currency whose value cannot be manipulated for political ends?
Is that the real reason?
So....time to buy puts with a $450 strike?
"You make a good point but there still is no reason why our money should not be backed with hard assets, is there?"
If the economy ever gets so bad that gold ever becomes a real investment, as opposed to a nice decoration or hobby, skip gold and go straight to the hard assets of canned goods, bottled water, and shotgun shells --- they'll be far more valuable.
Does anyone know WHY gold should or might be considered a "barbarous relic"?
Possible reasons: (1) The source for the article is a periodical called "The Economist." Economics deals in abstractions. People who deal in abstractions are embarrassed by the existence of actual physical things upon which worth is based, just as most political science professors appear to be embarrassed by the inconvenient exitence of actual human beings who make nonsense of their theories. Gold is a "wild" thing whose worth fluctuates depending upon the unpredictable wants and desires of human beings for it. It is therefore unstable. It is therefore "barbarous." (2) The idiot writing the article has become so accustomed to thinking of worth in terms of money that he cannot see that gold is in itself a desirable and beautiful thing. What cannot be numerically expressed, but exists as its own concrete reality is, therefore, barbarous. (3) Gold may have been the base for monetary systems at one time in the deep dark distant past, before our monetary system began to be based on whatever the hell it's based on now. It is therefore not only barbarous, but a relic.
Or there could be some other reason entirely.
Common misconception. They are not only selling it, they OWN it. LOTS of it. The greater the demand, the greater the value of THEIR gold.
Gold is the 19th rarest element on Earth. It is beautiful. It is durable. It is the best electical conductor known to man. It does not easily corrode, is easily identifiable, and it cannot be manufactured or counterfeited.
No one else can tell you what gold is worth, it is entirely up to you, the seller, and the buyer. So it is not up to bankers or con men or promises.
Anyone who calls gold a "barbarous relic" isn't likely to have much command of the concept of "inflation", either. ;)
legal services, and entertainment.
The economist Keynes coined the term in the 30s. He hated the stuff, and wanted governments to have a monopoly on creating fiat money.
All the more proof that now IS the time to buy gold.
That's far too subject to hyperdeflation as your currency either dies of old age or reverts back to the more common Democrat.
I propose a monetary standard based on cheap Italian cars.
Gold topped at $898 on Jan 1, 1981.
I've seen this before, somewhere...
No.
Because over the long run, it is a stupid investment.
I do not advocate a gold standard but is interesting to note that under a gold standard prices slowly decrease over time while under a fiat money scheme prices slowly (most of the time) rise over time. The public gets used to a "little" inflation. However, it produces great revenue for the government without directly raising taxes which gives them more money to spend on the people who elect them. Whatever else you can say about FDR, he wasn't a complete idiot when it came to expanding the government.
> Gold lacks in industry application utility, except that it's a metal that does not rust and sometimes used in computers and small medical prostesis.
It also has useful thermal properties (both reflection and conduction), and finds numerous space applications as a result.
[snort coffee] But it has to be something *real*, not just mythical. :-)
There are some other uses, especially in electronics. (Go look at the teeth on any given card in your PC, for example.)
To go to the other extreme, my lighting rods and grounding polls are plated in it actually. Cost $200 extra, but you never have to dig out the corroded rod --- which probably costs $200 to dig out a six-foot long poll.
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