"Our fiat currency currently has value, because our government and military says so. What happens if our government has some kind of extreme crisis? Bye, bye dollar, gone to the asheap with 99% of every other fiat currency ever issued."
Actually, our fiat currency has value for two huge reasons: we've got the world's largest economy and the world's mightiest military.
Gold has neither. Gold has been outlawed in the past. FDR banned Americans from owning gold during the Great Depression. Everyone had to turn their gold in or get jailed (or shot).
With the stroke of a pen governments can ban gold. It took until Nixon repealed FDR's gold ban in the 1970's before Americans could invest in gold again. That's a pretty unstable investment.
There is no army that is going to come defend gold. When it gets outlawed, then you're out of luck, and that very thing has happened here in America already.
On the other hand, the mightiest economy and the mightiest military backs the paper Dollar. Those are huge advantages that gold will never have.
Gold is for suckers. It is ugly and people laugh at you when you try to pay for your meal at a restraunt with it.
The fools who are stuck with that ugly yellow metal are forever trying to dump it off on the rest of us in exchange for our paper fiat Dollars.
The truth of the matter is that gold bugs want to exchange their gold for our Dollars because Dollars have real value. No one laughs at you when you pay with Dollars for your meal at a restraunt.
Everyday new gold is being mined and added into circulation, but the old gold never disappears. At least with investments such as land, you don't have to worry about the market suddenly becoming flooded with new property. They aren't making anymore new land, after all.
By and large I agree with you, and you state the arguement well.
But a few ounces of the solid gold stuff is insurance: if you ever need to escape and evade and bribe your way through customs and highway checkpoints, gold coins will be the ticket. Sometimes failing the checkpoint test gets you sent to the room where you (and your familia) don't come back.
Don't laugh. Ask any of the Vietnamese who made it to the USA in the 1970s. Or Jews who made it out through Spain in the late 1930s, etc.
One "lucky" Al Qaeda nuke could wreck our ecomomy, and then all bets are off and "full faith and credit" may become a bitter joke.
I have a few maple leaves around for the same reason I have a quantity of 5.56mm and an ocean crossing boat: insurance.
Actually, our fiat currency has value for two huge reasons: we've got the world's largest economy and the world's mightiest military.Isn't that what I just said?
Gold has neither. Gold has been outlawed in the past. FDR banned Americans from owning gold during the Great Depression. Everyone had to turn their gold in or get jailed (or shot).
Lots of people didn't turn their gold in and they didn't get shot. :^)
With the stroke of a pen governments can ban gold. It took until Nixon repealed FDR's gold ban in the 1970's before Americans could invest in gold again. That's a pretty unstable investment.
Don't invest in it. Keep it. Stash it. FDR won't be there for you in a catastrophy.
There is no army that is going to come defend gold. When it gets outlawed, then you're out of luck, and that very thing has happened here in America already.
They can outlaw it all they want, they can't find mine. And in a disaster they're going to be too busy to worry about what I'm using to trade for necessities.
On the other hand, the mightiest economy and the mightiest military backs the paper Dollar. Those are huge advantages that gold will never have.
A meteor strike over Washington eliminates any kind of government control for a few months. Good luck.
Gold is for suckers. It is ugly and people laugh at you when you try to pay for your meal at a restraunt with it.
I would laugh at someone too if they tried to buy a hamburger with it, that's not what it's for (at the moment).
The fools who are stuck with that ugly yellow metal are forever trying to dump it off on the rest of us in exchange for our paper fiat Dollars.
I don't want to sell my gold to you or anyone else. If I did, there's a gold shop on the corner that deals in it, and they would buy it.
The truth of the matter is that gold bugs want to exchange their gold for our Dollars because Dollars have real value. No one laughs at you when you pay with Dollars for your meal at a restraunt.
Both have value at the moment, the trouble is that fiat money has a terrible track record, 99% have failed through history.
Everyday new gold is being mined and added into circulation,...
Circulation? I though you said there is no circulation.
...but the old gold never disappears.
No it doesn't, unlike paper dollars, whose value drops by ~4% a year.
At least with investments such as land, you don't have to worry about the market suddenly becoming flooded with new property. They aren't making anymore new land, after all.
I'm not worried about the gold market getting flooded, after all, it isn't worth mining in the first place, right? LOL