[who_would_fardels_bear]

What I have read suggests that if you want the dollar value of gold to remain relatively fixed, and you want it to do so in reality and not just by government decree, is to guarantee that the increase in the gold supply matches the increase in global wealth.

But how does one measure global wealth? And who would be setting the definitions and doing the accounting?

And even if you could measure global wealth, how would you go about guaranteeing that only so much gold is mined and refined? Would we have to create some sort of cartel like De Beers if too many companies started mining too much gold? What would happen if they didn't find enough gold? Would we have to destroy a proportionate amount of wealth?

In the 'good old days' gold was pretty much valued for purely aesthetic reasons. It was easy to just affix some random price to it. However, now gold has many industrial uses so it has real intrinsic value that may go up or down depending on supply and demand.

And what about all those derivatives? Gold today will not be treated like gold in the past. It will not just be a commodity but will be a raison d'etre for numerous derivatives upon derivatives upon derivatives which will result in wild speculation leading to massive swings in the global price for gold.

[palmer]

which will result in wild speculation leading to massive swings in the global price for gold

And the problem with that is?

[Jim W N]

The history of gold prices is that if the dollar is strong and stable, investors go that way and do not tend toward investing in gold and commodities, keeping the price of gold relatively stable.

But when the dollar is weak and unstable, gold prices tend to go up because investors shy away from traditional financial investments and feel safer investing in tangible things like gold and other commodities.