Posted on 01/28/2011 6:55:23 AM PST by SeekAndFind
The speed with which money is flowing out of gold — and American government bonds — and into stocks reflects the improving economic outlook, according to a telegram sent out this afternoon by the economist David Malpass. He notes that gold has fallen $115 dollars since its $1,431 intra-day peak on December 7, while the 10-year Treasury yield has risen to 3.4% from a low of 2.4% on October 7. He reported on a recent conference at which investors passed around “large gold nuggets” and at which Paul Volcker pointed out that a rising gold price is, as Mr. Malpass put it, a “negative assessment of a central bank.” But he thinks the trend in the past month reflects the economic outlook.
Not a bad moment to sketch this newspaper’s interest in gold. We look at it not with the investor’s eye or the speculator’s motives, though we respect both investors and speculators. Our interest in this beat has to do with the long struggle for monetary reform. It’s our view that the difficulties our economy have been going through have their roots in the un-soundness — the fiat nature — of what currently passes for American money. We comprehend that the dollar can gain in value even without a repair of the monetary system, as fiscal, political, and related matters and even the business cycle can change the outlook for growth.
If, however, we are to reduce the danger of future busts, the most important reform would be to restore sound money. By that we mean the kind of gold- or silver-based money contemplated by the Founders of America.
(Excerpt) Read more at nysun.com ...
You’ll never know until Fort Knox is audited, as well as the Federal Reserve..............which isn’t Federal.
It’s just a matter of ratios.
They could fix it right where it is now.
$1 = 1/1300th of an ounce of gold.
Now, I’m not clear on the problems associated with the gold standard. Can someone post a 101?
Paper money is based on faith, it has no intrinsic value.
Gold is a valuable commodity and an asset that never varies.
The “rising” and “falling” of the gold vs. dollar reflects the “faith” in the dollar, not the change in the value of gold................
No time is a good time to return to the Gold standard.
Believe it or not, the U.S. currency has been significantly more stable in the last 80 years than it was when it was on the gold standard.
On the gold standard we had wild swings of deflation and inflation, sometimes as much as 25% in a single year. On the fiat system with the Federal Reserve in charge, we have had a low level of inflation each and every year.
It’s been much better for business and instead of severe deflationary depressions every 20 years, we’ve had only 2 depressions in 100 years.
Constant small inflation means you can’t store dollars in your mattress for 100 years, but who wants to? That’s not an economic goal that matters.
A small amount of inflation encourages investment of capital instead of unproductive hoarding. If you had invested those dollars you’ve done well because of the stable economic environment.
I don’t think the USA has enough gold to cover all of its paper money.
We really don’t have any much gold and it is not used to back the dollar any more. How would the US buy gold? They would have to steal it form the public otherwise it and the gold would be worth less.
funny how there are always stories touting how gold is about to crater, yet very few the other way
meanwhile, this will help dispel the bs that china will not dump the dollar, hurting it’s holdings:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2664585/posts
i’ll take hard assets over toilet paper any day.. and so will the chinese
That’s a self correcting problem, if it exists. A shortage of gold will drive up the price of gold, which will decrease the required supply to back the currency.
[I don’t think the USA has enough gold to cover all of its paper money.]
You don’t have to cover all the paper money, just some fraction of it. There are different ways of doing it.
It would take more Gold than there is in Fort Knox to cover our debt.
[A small amount of inflation encourages investment of capital instead of unproductive hoarding. ]
That is hogwash. The only reason for inflation is to steal money from the sheep, period.
The thing is, some people like inflation. William Jennings Bryan gave his "Cross of Gold" speech because he opposed a gold standard, he wanted inflation, because inflation would benefit farmers who were in debt.
People who are in debt like inflation.
The political establishment likes debt, and likes inflation. The political establishment doesn't like a gold standard.
With a gold standard, government could not behave the way it has been behaving. Debt would be seriously bad, and so the government would have to spend less, and be smaller and more limited. That's pretty much the point.
I like a gold standard.
Here's a funny story about a president who liked using executive orders to get his way. He also found a way to stay in office for over 3 terms.
Executive Order 6102 required U.S. citizens to deliver on or before May 1, 1933, all but a small amount of gold coin, gold bullion, and gold certificates owned by them to the Federal Reserve, in exchange for $20.67 per troy ounce. Under the Trading With the Enemy Act of October 6, 1917, as amended on March 9, 1933, violation of the order was punishable by fine up to $10,000 ($167,700 if adjusted for inflation as of 2010) or up to ten years in prison, or both.
How would you like to wake up some morning to learn that Obama has done the same thing as well as seizing all records of gold transactions back to the 1970's?
Going to the gold standard, at $1300/oz now, would require the US government have 1/5th of all the gold ever mined.
The US will eventually get back to the gold standard, but it will probably have to go to the ‘lead standard’ first.
“I don’t think the USA has enough gold to cover all of its paper money.”
“Do we?”
Nobody knows for sure but there has not been anybody allowed in Ft. Knox since the 60’s. So you be the judge.
I read an article last year that showed Obama quietly sold off most of the remaining gold in 2009. It was buried on one line in a report that was posted online. So who knows?
Not till we hit rock bottom.
A telegram?
It’s never a good time to return to the gold standard, but that’s what we need to do
The two depressions that we have had (one being now) have been caused by the Fed, so I don’t know why you are a fan of theirs. Inflated homes are coming crashing down because the Fed held interest rates too low, plus the various scams of the Federal Government.
Inflation kills the little guy and the Fed is now causing inflation by the buckets. Inflation always seems nice for a while, then it erodes your buying power.
The true value of gold will be determined soon. It’s much higher than $1300-1400.
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