I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.- Thomas Jefferson.

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Friday, November 19, 2010

Going Back to a Gold Standard?

Here's a slightly different take on the use of gold by govts as a monetary standard.  I'm still bullish.


Adrian Ash

Published 11/11/2010



So did gold's first foray over $1,400 mean we're going back to a gold standard?



Nope. Not in the West, nor anytime soon anywhere, and for three simple reasons.



First, gold prices aren't high enough. Second, modern governments don't hold enough of the stuff – not for their tastes, at least. And third, the pace of physical monetization, out of jewelry and mined ore into coin and large-bar form, just isn't great enough. Yet.



Gold Pricing & Value



Backing the world's broad-money supply with gold – even at the 40% cover-ratio set by the United States in the interwar years – would require a price nearer to $4,000 per ounce than $1,400. That's with all the gold ever mined in history locked inside central-bank vaults, by the way. Full cover for a reserves-backed "bullion standard" would need prices above $10,000 per ounce.


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