G-Log said:Eruaran said:It doesn't matter what's on the books, and it doesn't matter if most people don't own much or any gold. Any Australian government that starts confiscating gold and treating people as criminals for refusing to hand it over (especially in economic times where "buy gold" is increasingly mainstream investment advice) is a government that's finished.
There are moves afoot that would invalidate your above argument. If the Basel Committee for Bank Supervision (BCBS) decide to reclassify Gold as a Tier 1 asset then, in compliance with international banking regulation, Australia would need to build its Gold reserves or our banking system would collapse.
At this stage we think that if Gold is reclassified as a Tier 1 asset then its value will skyrocket...BUT this very reclassification would create the perfect circumstances for the Govt to enact the Gold Confiscation Legislation...IN THE NATIONAL INTEREST.
Anyway this is how I interpret the situation.
The Basel Committee is suggesting that Gold, amongst other assets such as cash, should be a Tier one asset. So no, the banking system could survive without a single ounce of gold as far as I can tell as far as the Legislation would be concerned.
It would be a different monster if Gold was the ONLY Tier One asset