 Greetings Dom,
Let me attempt to reassure you that i have never set out to make gold seem less special than it is. More accurately could some of my posts be characterized as attempts to have others not have an inflated notion of the specialness of gold. Leaving aside the fact that specialness is probably a very poor choice of words when discussing inanimate objects, allow me to explain what i mean. What i have done is to challenge some of the contrafactual claims made for gold by some contributors and commenters. For example, there are those who claim that gold is money when it currently fulfills only 1 of the 4 functions of money (a store of value). There are youtube videos aplenty showing people not being able to complete a purchase with a gold or silver coin, but none showing someone unable to buy whatever they choose with American dollars. (Yes, you might be able to "buy" a used car for a gold coin, but that would be barter, not a money transaction and it is quite likely that both parties would consider the cash value of each object before agreeing to the trade.) In other words, dollars are the medium of exchange, not gold and that is the most fundamental purpose of money. Cash, not gold, is also how contractual obligations are settled. And lastly, dollars (or whatever the local currency is) are used as the unit of account, not grams of gold. That is to say, we think in terms of dollars, not gold when we enter a store and ask the price of something. As for being a store of value, yes, gold does fulfill that function (though not always with equal success). However, it is not alone in that regard. People also think of land, stocks, bonds, fine art, diamonds and other things as providing a good store of value without the need to call those things money.... In pointing out that gold is currently nothing more than another asset class, i am not slamming gold. Rather, i am pointing out that reality does not support the position put forward by certain others that gold and only gold is real money. And i believe that having a very firm grasp on what gold really is better enables people to make informed decisions. And of course, i believe that decisions made based upon facts will prove superior to those informed by hyperbole.
What i have consistently claimed is that gold is a hedge against government. When governments act in a fiscally responsible manner, owning pretty much anything else would be superior. But as we do not live in such a time, having a certain amount of ones' wealth in precious metals is prudent; the amount depending upon factors such as where one actually lives and how old one is. Why you would consider that to be an attack on gold is rather unclear to me. What i do attack are positions that do not conform with the facts as well as positions that display a shocking lack of understanding of both history and how capital flows. And i think of those who look at anything in isolation as being incredibly obtuse, for all things are connected.
Before you object, saying that i ignore history which tells us that gold had been used as money for 6,000 years, let me stop you in your tracks. i do not deny that fact. i merely assert that it is meaningless in the world we now inhabit, for it is now paper that is money. That is the reality we are confronted with. History informs us of how previous sovereign debt crises have evolved and watching where capital is going is helpful in understanding where we are in this one.
If there is any area in which i do put down gold, it would be my contention that paper is superior to gold for representing money. That position is based upon my understanding that what we use as money should have as little intrinsic value as possible in order to guard against the fluctuations in value that objects of considerable value undergo as a result of supply dynamics. While it is quite true that paper can be easily abused by government, it has never proved difficult for governments to abuse a gold standard either. To argue otherwise is to ignore history.
Anyway, i trust this has helped to clear that up for you.
 Commented 3935 days ago |
