http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/155226/20110531/gold-currency-dollar-replace.htm Just a fluff piece from the International Buisness Times, the answer is no for the following reasons Some people rejected this possibility. One is 'Bond King' Jeffrey Gundlach. In an interview with Business Insider, Gundlach said in a real financial meltdown, people shouldn't hoard gold. Instead, they should hold physical cash, which can't be wiped out by a digital crash. "[You're not going to] walk around with a cube of gold to shave off a few grains to pay for your slurpee at 7-11," he said. "Gold gets you here to the other side of the crisis but it's not much of value in the middle. If you end up in such a crisis, you're probably going to needcurrency," he said. Gundlach also complains that gold is too heavy to carry around. So if one really wants to use a commodity as a medium of exchange, he recommends gem stones. Apparently Gold can be wiped out by a digital crash, you need to shave gold to get fractionals (to buy a slurpee in the middle of a global financial meltdown) and it is heavy, oh... and gem stones are better apparently (probably easier to shave a bit off them). Not sure where they found this expert but I guess all the other Business Insiders were actually in employment and couldn't come to the phone.
Can't blame the guy though, he's the "bond king" which means the majority of his holdings are probably in bonds. Bonds are probably the highest risk investment right now to be honest with all the governments around the world on the brink of collapse... Bet ya he's scared of Gold, it'll make his paper bonds worthless Can't believe he mentioned gemstones though and not silver...gemstones aren't even 'generic', hard to use something as a means of exchange when it's not ubiquitous!
Don't Americans have a history of trading with shiney beads? I thought they bought an entire state with them from the Natives.
What a goof ball, just his remarks on gem stones tells me all about investment strategy. Don't worry when there is a crash he will probably be in 7/11 accepting silver or gold shavings for a slurpee
Damn straight! Gotta laugh at how he said "Gold is too heavy to carry around". 1oz Gold already pays for a return trip to LA, probably heavier to pay in fiat paper bills !
What a ridiculous perspective. Many things guide my investment strategy but "Bond Kings" do not. :lol::lol::lol:
Article continues on with some more sensible points, namely: - "A one-ounce gold coin, for example, would fetch over $1,500. Therefore, it's practically possible to carry around tens of thousands of dollars." - "A 1/10-ounce silver coin would only be worth about $4, so precious metal currencies are also small enough for practical uses." Besides that, anyone seen the "gemstone" spot price lately? Is there a LGMA (London Gemstone Market Association) I can contact?
No it would not work.. it is not possible to print gold and therefore America would have to live BELOW their means. America living below their means. and will fight to keep a gold standard from happening.
Gemstones eh?. Maybe. It _could_ be possible to use gems as cash, but the government would need to supply them cut in very specific sizes (basically make sure that the "four C's" are consistent). A variety could be used to replace coins. e.g. 5c = Quartz [rose] 10c = Flourite [orange] 20c = Amethyst 50c = Beryl [light green] $1 = Topaz $2 = Aquamarine We'd need to "inflate" the dollar around 100 times it's value though How many would trade $5 of our existing currency for 5c of the new gemstone currency? O_O 5c of the new currency could buy about 4L of Coke. Could happen overnight with a database script running on all bank databases. e.g. UPDATE savingsaccounts SET balance = (balance / 100) WHERE accounttype = 'plebs'; It would make foreign exchange interesting and we'd have colourful wallets Well, at least it was fun to entertain the idea
