Don't be too hard on him, opposite-itis is a very debilitating condition that we all need to raise awareness of.
The author doesn't appreciate the historical value associated with the fact that gold can't be magically materialised or destroyed at the whim of governments. And an ounce of gold today is still an ounce of gold in 10 years time.
And has never heard of ZIRP, NIRP, or defaults. Monetary Metals provide a nicely contrasting perspective, not that I subscribe to it 100%
Interesting point though about trading frequently to gain hedging benefit. I am experimenting with my (miniscule) unallocated account where I can potentially profit from a $50 change in the gold price, but you have to be on the ball because the opportunities don't hang around for you to make your mind up!
author: SPDR Gold (GLD) ? Who is the author? How unusual for them to be poo-pooing holding gold in a vault! Can't imagine why. Non-registered readers miss out page 2 and page 3 of that excellent piece. For shame. This info should reach the far corners of the earth.
I am still completely puzzled by the fact that paper with 'gold' printed upon it, is traded at milliseconds by computers, with no regard to the presence or availability of the actual physical commodity, and this blizzard of paper, promises and electrons, sets the price for actual weights of pure metal in the gold shops. The massive manipulation and fraud does indeed lend support to the OP. If the powers can completely disregard economic reality to keep the game going, then why bother with lumps of metal?
I don't think they can disregard reality for ever. The game may go on longer, and grow far larger and more complex, than pessimists predict, but that doesn't guarantee it can continue indefinitely. When it eventually breaks, everything may lose value (perhaps even physical gold) but surely holding physical will put you in a better position than those who'se paper positions have disappeared completely.
^^^ Yes to both of you. Since we don't accept this guy's basic assumptions, or his subsequent logic, I fear we will struggle to buy his conclusions
Yes I can see that path, and I agree, but I can also see one with "social credits", outlawed metals, with "hoarding" and "revisionist' thought being punished. We are at the cusp of new emperors and bureaucratic potentates, and the consequences that evokes. Gold may have stood the test of time, but so has elite savagery. I'm hoping for an orderly transition to the new world, but the prior examples don't bode well.
Yep, that's pretty dark and depressing Julie. I am slightly more optimistic the human civilization will evolve rather then devolve into some other centralized dystopian nightmare. I'm hoping the elites will figure out the game is up and after making a sh1teload of wealth during this globalization scam they will just retire on a nice sunny beach somewhere and f*** off out of our lives. The future I see is decentralized, autonomous, self-regulatory and diverse. We don't need to be ruled if we want prosperity. It might be a bit messy and it might take another 100 years to get there but I'm optimistic it'll happen. The trends are visible now.
Technology and the gradual move towards electronic transactions are empowering the state and eroding individual liberties, and it won't be long before every social and financial interaction will be available for scrutiny by bureaucrats and the enforcement arms of the government. Much of this will be automated, with outliers and other red flags identified by analytic algorithms and behavioural analysis. You'll already be subject to something like this if you work in certain industries. If you've ever received a retrospective tax bill from the ATO after expansion of data feeds and improved analytics have identified something in the past (up to 7 years) then you've had a small taste of how far this can go, not only as applied to future actions, but also applied to past actions as the full weight of the government is brought to bear against the people. To support this, there are so called "legal innovations" that are increasingly reversing the onus of proof, so it will become increasingly difficult for citizens to fight punative financial penalties. In this environment, anything that facilitates privacy, and especially anonymity in financial transactions, will be treated as criminal.
