Is gold heading for the basement?

[Lorizael]

Why do people care so much about the stuff we use to store latinum?

[Thue]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker
Except the parts of the US government that control monetary policy are smart enough not to do that.

Their hand may be forced if people loose fate in the government's ability to pay back its debt, because the debt is too large. And the size of the debt created through deficits is determined by the legislative and executive branches, which are not acting all that responsible right now.

I really am not an expert, but it does not seem totally impossible that government money printing could happen. Hence the gold buyers are not totally irrational.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

I'm no expert but typically gold is a hedge against inflation. Recently however, new markets particularly China is now entering into the gold buyers market also add to the demand side of teh equation.


I have no plans to invest but would not expect the gold market to soften any time soon especially as fears over the situation in the middle east and its ripple effect on oil translate into inflationary speculation.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker
Which would be stupid, as inventory costs for equivalent value would be enormous, among other things.

If you have 10 tons of gold and are dying of thirst in the middle of a desert, you'll give me all the gold for a few liters of clean, drinkable water.

[Flip McWho]

Unless you couldn't afford to pay for the inventory costs of storing all that water in a tank and purifying it because you waited till someone with 10 tons of gold to go for a walk in the desert to raise the money.

[St Leo]

Originally posted by Verto
I never understood why people would buy gold - because they have no faith in "paper" currency, which has no "real backing"? The value that gold has exists in the same way as that of regular cash. Really stupid.

You can't print gold. Not in the same way, at least.

I am not sure how government reserves of gold play into this, though.

[St Leo]

Originally posted by Whoha
Governments can't print gold.

I have neglected to read the thread.

[St Leo]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
I have always wondered about that, as gold has no intrinsic value to us at all. It's just a trading medium, so again it's value is only as good as people's, uh, faith.

The assumption is that society and, thus, a barter system will remain in place post-apocalypse. This is likelier than a complete collapse in most calculations. If there's no trade at all, then things are really, really bad.

[St Leo]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
If you have 10 tons of gold and are dying of thirst in the middle of a desert, you'll give me all the gold for a few liters of clean, drinkable water.

But if I have some of the necessities taken care of and I have some gold and you have a harvest of pears, then we could exchange pears for gold. Life goes on.

[Kontiki]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger


I have always wondered about that, as gold has no intrinsic value to us at all. It's just a trading medium, so again it's value is only as good as people's, uh, faith.

Do you wonder why the pretty Canadian currency looks different from the pretty US and Euro currencies and why they don't seem to be accepted on a one-for-one basis?

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger


If you have 10 tons of gold and are dying of thirst in the middle of a desert, you'll give me all the gold for a few liters of clean, drinkable water.

If you've invested all your savings water, why the **** would you drag it with you while going to bring it all with you when you go vacationing or whatever in the middle of the desert, rather than just store it in a warehouse? And if you invest in gold, why not just SELL some if you really have no money to buy water?

What kind of nonsensical argument are you making?

[Kuciwalker]

Y'know, if you had all that water and wanted to trade it, do you think you would drag all the water in a lot of buckets to the person's house, or might you give them a piece of paper representing ownership of the water?

[Lancer]

I just need to know the day when gold will be the cheapest before going up so I can buy some.

[Japher]

that's it?

[Lancer]

That's all.

It's next Tuesday isn't it?