As prices in Venezuala increased 5000x and +, people were buying livestock, lumber, piping, hardware and tools, fuel, food, anything they thought might hold some value and basically anything they could get their hands on. People sitting on too much cash. While gold increased over 25000x. It's not a hard choice to me.
Hell it's happened here in US history before so I dont have to look far from home. Forget Venezuela. Things have collapsed, people were starving and homeless with sick kids living under bridges, jobless and destitute and hopeless. One day rich on the stock market eating steaks and seafood, the next day chewing the soles of their shoes on a dusty road to nowhere. The ones with stacks of gold saved from hard work and humbleness cut down to pork chops and chicken and peanut butter and thrived and their children didnt suffer. It doesnt matter where or when, it's always the same and no one is immune.
What comes to my mind - after having read a few similar news/articles regarding other countries: there's not enough cash for people to withdraw (easy to understand, but I didn't expect this to happen so fast). It's sad, but it's happening at a much smaller scale in Europe. I might be wrong, but I observed that a few ATM's have disappeared in my area. Perhaps they were just moved? Or they are encouraging card payments by removing the ATM's. Taking away the possibility to withdraw, perhaps in order to eliminate bank runs. I know someone who can't stand using cards, so he withdraws his salary in cash, immediately after he receives it.
Where do you see that gold increased 2,500x in Venezuela? I checked a few charts (Goldprice.org probably has a flawed chart with 90% of the graph missing), can you please show me where you see that huge increase? I'm really curious, because from what I saw earlier, the price of gold only went up around 300% in VEF.
If you follow youtuber belangp, he has quite a few interesting videos comparing the price of goods and metals in Bolivar before and after 2017
https://www.forbes.com/sites/greats...the-price-of-gold-in-venezuela-right-now/amp/ This is old but I dont know where the price is at now could have went back down some. I think they had a gold confiscation in 2012 anyway so I dont know how much it matters haha.
Would really like to see believable, real, professional up-to-date graphs showing Venezuela's gold price evolution. Yeah, that Forbes article does provide some valuable information, thanks for sharing. I guess gold's price went out of control there, in Venezuela. And there aren't any "fools" to buy gold/pay the price it's worth. So, I guess this is the negative effect of what happens during hyperinflation. Gold skyrockets and you won't be able to sell it.
Gold is the only thing that preserves purchasing power during hyperinflation. Stackers might not sell but can barter alot better.
As above from 66rounds, yes gold preserves purchasing power and you'll likely wait until things return to something like normality before exchanging your gold insurance for another fiat system. There is also the option of trading your gold to someone who has been wiped out and who needs gold and is prepared to swap cars, land, houses etc at the going "gold rate". In 1923 in Germany there was a famous tale of an enterprising bellboy who received a gold ounce as a tip from a US multi-millionaire and swapped it to a desperate landlord for a street of houses.(but don't envy him, the Nazis were only 6 years away!) So one of the lessons is keep "small" gold for the tempest, as well as "big" gold for after it settles and you wish to return to what you had, or better, before the storm hit.
The hotel porter story that I heard (variation): indeed, the porter received a 1 oz gold coin as a tip from an American, but he kept the gold coin and when hyperinflation hit, we was able to buy the very hotel he worked in (!). True or just an "urban legend"? I'd like to know more about this story. More precisely: which hotel this was and who this porter/bellboy/bellhop was? Perhaps the price of property can indeed crumble to dust and then, once could easily buy up
I read that in Venezuela an oz of gold will buy you a house, an oz of silver 6 months of groceries for a family. People have also said that switching gold for fiat isnt a problem. The problem is that the gold holders dont want the fiat.
Rumors? I don't know where we can verify that, but I'd like to know if that's really happening. Sounds interesting and might prove the fact that PM's are really great for storing wealth.
Yeah I'm not sure but it's been reported that way. I'm in the us and only get the info they sell us so who really knows. I'd rather have the gold even if it's a stretch though. You're still better off, those that didnt turn it in.
Indeed. Sounds like Urban Legend. From Peak Prosperity I don’t know if this is urbane myth but there is a story of a young German who worked as a bellhop in a hotel before Weimer inflation and returned and purchased the hotel with the same gold coin, after hyper inflation hit. Good story, I read a few other variations of same, where the bellhop recieved the gold coin from an American tourist….why, of course–had to be an American who saved the day…right? But the point remains. Gold is worth saving as it may save you.
I think in the case of Venezuela, you can substitute US dollars for gold and get the same result. However, gold is often bought as a hard asset over even paper US notes, so it has proven a strong hedge against inflation.
Call me a skeptic, but I do not believe these widely-recounted stories, or the bellhop/ounce of gold/hotel story. Houses in low to middle income suburban areas are reasonably durable stores of wealth in all but the most severe of collapses. People still need to live somewhere. Most desperate people would gain more utility from six months of groceries than a silver coin. And a hotel offering reasonably-priced lodging and meals that can maintain service during a downturn would be a sought-after inflation-indexed income-earning asset.
I heard the story from someone at around 2012-2013 and was indeed the same one as on Peak Prosperity. Even if it's just a story - I'd be curious whether one could really buy property with a handful of ounces. This would make gold an even more appealing investment.
Is that really the case? Then let's fly over to Venezuela and buy our own town. The members of this forum would have enough money to invest for buying a little town. We only need a few hundred dollars per person.
