Gold is a commodity. It isn't money. Over an extended period of time it is a terrible investment.
Someone must have posted it by now.
The value of gold is a myth, huh? The value of the Dollar, on the other hand, is inversely proportional to the value of an ounce of gold. In a queer display of the dismal science, economists point to the trillions of dollars in foreign hands and declare that scarce gold is merely a "commodity". Gold goes up. The Dollar goes down. I would much rather have an ounce of gold than an ounce of dollars.
I remember reading several articles in places like the Arab News soon after 9/11 urging Muslims to get rid of their dollars and change to gold in order to undermine the US economy and government. There are probably fatwas and Friday sermons proclaiming this part of the Muslim duty of jihad against the Great Satan. I worried about it at the time, but did not see a rapid rise in gold prices. However, $700 is more than twice as much as it cost in 2001, going on 3 times.
Internet search:
Total ounces of gold in the world = 4.28 billion ounces.
Total amount of dollars in circulation in the world = $55 trillion.
That comes to $12850.50 an ounce
Ding! Ding! Ding! Only three posts before the word "fiat" appeared.
>>This is very interesting reading. I can personally attest for the worth of gold over the past year, thankfully.<<
It is interesting reading. And he's right about the problems with the Yuan. But its worth remembering the author is a Carter appointee.