Greenspan Returns to "Barbarous Relic" Gold

Capitalism Magazine ^ | Feb. 5, 2003 | by Don Luskin

[AntiGuv]

Great post!

[The Raven]

Gold is a commodity.....the price is chasing Greenspan's monitary policy.

Eco 101 - Never peg money to a commodity.

[chainsaw]

Ping for later reading

[ovrtaxt]

Ill just sit back with my gold coins and watch the festivities! Should be interesting...

And anybody who hasn't diversified a bit by now with at least SOME gold, you better get busy.

[ASA Vet]

with at least SOME gold

In a crisis, try to buy ammunition with it.

[taxtruth]

Thats not a problem.www.goldgrams.com will exchange gold to any currency in the world.

[ASA Vet]

any currency in the world.

In a crisis, try to buy ammunition with it.

[SauronOfMordor]

The point ASA Vet is trying to make is that, in a crisis bad enough that US$ is no longer a viable medium of exchange, it's going to be real hard to buy stuff at your local supermarket (or gun store) with a handful of gold or silver coins. People no longer have experience with it. And the same applies to other currencies.

And in a situation where paper money doesn't buy stuff, the accepted barter item will be guns and ammo, because you can be damn sure that the hungry gang-bangers of your nearest inner city will be coming to your neighborhood looking for their next meal (Oh, you live 20 miles out in the suburbs? Guess what -- gang bangers have cars)

[Moonman62]

This is a good post for the most part. But there is nothing special about gold. I've seen the same type of chart comparing the fed rate to the consumer price index, which works just as well. And if Greenspan does return to a price rule, it should be the CPI, because as the article points out, a good portion of gold's price movement since 911 has been due to the safe haven effect.

[Moonman62]

That was the message of a remarkable speech by Alan Greenspan last month, missing by only two weeks the sixth anniversary of his "irrational exuberance" speech. The press didn't really pick up on the importance of this speech, because we've all become accustomed to thinking of gold as a "barbarous relic," to use Keynes' famous phrase. But the fact is that from the very first sentence of the speech, we can see that Greenspan has rediscovered his golden compass — a compass he admits pointed true even in the speculative "bubble" of 1929:

I wonder why no quotes are provided from the speech.

[Moonman62]

The message of this article is that Greenspan went from one of the best ever Fed chairmen, to one of the worst in 1996 is absolutely correct. One has to wonder why he's still employed.

I guess most everybody still buys into the myth that internet stocks and crazy investors caused all our economic problems.

[aSkeptic]

[gold n bullets]

In a crisis, try to buy ammunition with it.

Hey.. Why not market solid gold bullets! You'd get a 2 fer 1!

[taxcontrol]

Disagree.

Eco 401 - money is always backed by something.

Right now, full faith and credit is all that is backing the dollar. Soverign and unfettered commodities backing a currency provide a limit to the money supply. Such a system acts as a natural hedge against inflation.

[ASA Vet]

gold bullets

Would they be more effective than silver for werewolf plunking?

[aSkeptic]

Would they be more effective than silver for werewolf plunking?

Probably not. But then of course we could market silver bullets.. Ya know.. For small change ;)

[ASA Vet]

Bingo!

The value of of any barter item is determined by the two individuals involved.
When the defecant hits the wind propulsion device survival items have the highest value.
Paper, gold, or bead representations have no intrinsic value.

[ASA Vet]

You wouldn't be Francisco Scaramanga by any chance?

[aSkeptic]

Francisco Scaramanga

never heard of him

[ASA Vet]

In the James Bond flick "The man with the golden gun,"
The bad guy who used bullets made of gold to off people was Francisco Scaramanga,
(played by Cristopher Lee.)