There is more to it than that, but yeah in hind sight bad choice. I do believe though that they were forced to sell otherwise they would be blocked out of the international debt markets. (Just my suspicion, because it was at that time England selling their gold put in the bottom of the bear market. I doubt everyone was so stupid, so I believe there was another more logical reason - like co-ersion and blackmail from a big multinational banking body who controls national debts)
It's no better on the other side of the political mudpile. Swan would have done the same. And it wasn't just a case of selling gold for a few extra dollars in the kitty to spend. There appeared to be global shenanigans at work back then and I think Australia (aka Costello) just did as he was told.
I don't particularly like Putin but I would not be silly enough to under-estimate him based on the silly lampooning going on in this thread.
Putin is not a gangster, He is the Don's Don, he doesn't just have people assassinated he has them contaminated just to teach the others a lesson. check out the untimley fate of Alexander Litvinenko for an example of what happens to those who cross the Don.
FGS..579m tons in a decade of gold buying? Running second to China! I would like to see the real figures.. China by the length of the straight! China keeps all its own production of gold and in recent times imports vast amounts through Hong Kong. You do you guys think buys the most gold? Would you bet on China or Russia? Regards Errol 43
With just one of those "bricks", one could buy a nice large house on the Spanish coast and even keep stacking and investing the rest - just to have plenty left for a living! Wonderful!
Or feed an entire suburb for a month, pay their fuel bill, education and medical cost's. Putin is old school KGB with high tech 21st century nous. Deadly dangerous and charming to boot. It is not by mistake or luck that he has regained the presidency nor that the old ties between Russia and China are now looking at currency as a weapon of mass destruction.
Putin ex-KGB who 'fought' to the top making him the worst of the worst. But I showed that article to a friend who immediately rang a dealer to start buying gold. Putin letting the cat out of the bag.
Putin is obviously the worlds strongest humanitarian. Because everyone knows that Chuck Norris' tears cure cancer.
