Gold is the constant...

[Missourian]

I had an epiphany today.

Having been born long after the sunset of the gold standard backing currency, in my mind I think of the dollar as being the constant and gold value increasing...but in reality, gold is the constant.

Consider golds value is always the same, but as the dollar is deminished, it takes more to buy the same amount of gold.

Now this may be common knowledge to most of you, but to me it was a completely new and unsettling perspective of the devaluation of the dollar.

 

[sparky]

well i suppose your head is gonna explode when it dawns on you inflation is the hidden tax then Missourian....

 

[expat_panama]

...golds value is always the same, but as the dollar is deminished, it takes more to buy the same amount of gold...

That approach is so childishly stupid that my first thought is to just yell for you kids to stop messing up my front lawn. My second thought is the fact that there are so many of y'all and that most are actually very nice people.

Here's the thing, if you worship gold--

then we need to change the second amendment. If you care about our having money that we can use to buy and sell things then we need to agree that money works only if it can buy today pretty much the same stuff it could buy yesterday. Wild inflation/deflation is bad, stable prices good.

If make dollars buy the same gold day after day, then the prices for food, clothing, and shelter go wildly up and down. That's bad. We're better off with letting what we pay for gold go up and down like crazy so our food/clothes/housing prices are more workable.

 

[editec]

I had an epiphany today.

Having been born long after the sunset of the gold standard backing currency, in my mind I think of the dollar as being the constant and gold value increasing...but in reality, gold is the constant.

Consider golds value is always the same, but as the dollar is deminished, it takes more to buy the same amount of gold.

Now this may be common knowledge to most of you, but to me it was a completely new and unsettling perspective of the devaluation of the dollar.

That's SORT of true. Certainly the dollar's loss of value in our lifetimes makes gold seem like a thing of true worth by comparison

But gold doesn't really have a constant value, either, really.

It's value changes against all other things (of intrinsic worth) depending on the state of the economy.

But as a hedge against uncertainty, gold does have a shining history of retaining a fairly good relative value over time, that is certain.

 

[expat_panama]

...as a hedge against uncertainty, gold does have a shining history of retaining a fairly good relative value over time, that is certain.

What are you talking about? In real life the price of gold soars and plummets wildly and unpredictably.

 

[editec]

...as a hedge against uncertainty, gold does have a shining history of retaining a fairly good relative value over time, that is certain.

What are you talking about? In real life the price of gold soars and plummets wildly and unpredictably.

What am I talking about?

What are you bitching about?

I thought my post made it rather obvious.

It's (gold's) value changes against all other things (of intrinsic worth) depending on the state of the economy.

I am talking about its sustaining value "over time" just as I wrote, XPat.

But as a hedge against uncertainty, gold does have a shining history of retaining a fairly good relative value over time,

My post was not HALF of what I wrote, my post was ALL of what I wrote, Lad.

Parcing out PART of it, to complain about it as though I'd not written the other part of it is rather intellectually dishonest, don't you think?

 

[expat_panama]

...What am I talking about? What are you bitching about?...

Ah, this must not be a good time. We can do this later.

Cheers.

 

[8537]

The value of gold is subjected to the same market forces that change the value of Twinkies, RAM, cell phones, beer....

And its value changes quite dramatically at times. Just because the dollar was once pegged to it doesn't mean that its value remained constant. Just ask the Spanish circa the 1500's.

 

[expat_panama]

...Just because the dollar was once pegged to it doesn't mean that its value remained constant...

Exactly. Money is product of consensus, and it gets pegged to what ever most of us think is important. A long time ago people thought gold was important, now that belief's for the backside of fringeland. Most of us have decided we care about food/clothes/shelter and that's what we're pegging our money to. The rest can either deal with it or go stick it.

 

[Big Fitz]

The value of gold is subjected to the same market forces that change the value of Twinkies, RAM, cell phones, beer....

And its value changes quite dramatically at times. Just because the dollar was once pegged to it doesn't mean that its value remained constant. Just ask the Spanish circa the 1500's.

Yes, this is somewhat true. But compared to twinkies, RAM, taconite, bananas or silk, it's value is outstandingly stable because it is so rare and its production is well defined for the most part.

But of course even a resource like that can be subject to collapse. Take the Amythest. Before the colonization of the new world and even far into it, this stone was considered rare and precious. Not quite like diamonds, but still up there with emeralds and rubies to some degree. Then came the discovery of Amythests in Canada. So many deposits were discovered it collapsed forever the global market and made the Amythest a semi-precious stone in only a few decades.

Now till a deposit like that is discovered in the world for Gold, it is subjected only to the pressures of consumption (eating it, oy! or using it in other consumables) and discovery/processing (very tightly controlled). You can have local markets become saturated like Skagway and Klondike were during the Yukon Gold Rush. But that's local market pressures, not global. All this is why Missourian is fairly correct in his assessment of Gold being the constant... and the standard.

 

[8537]

The value of gold is subjected to the same market forces that change the value of Twinkies, RAM, cell phones, beer....

And its value changes quite dramatically at times. Just because the dollar was once pegged to it doesn't mean that its value remained constant. Just ask the Spanish circa the 1500's.

Yes, this is somewhat true. But compared to twinkies, RAM, taconite, bananas or silk, it's value is outstandingly stable because it is so rare and its production is well defined for the most part.

But of course even a resource like that can be subject to collapse. Take the Amythest. Before the colonization of the new world and even far into it, this stone was considered rare and precious. Not quite like diamonds, but still up there with emeralds and rubies to some degree. Then came the discovery of Amythests in Canada. So many deposits were discovered it collapsed forever the global market and made the Amythest a semi-precious stone in only a few decades.

Now till a deposit like that is discovered in the world for Gold, it is subjected only to the pressures of consumption (eating it, oy! or using it in other consumables) and discovery/processing (very tightly controlled). You can have local markets become saturated like Skagway and Klondike were during the Yukon Gold Rush. But that's local market pressures, not global. All this is why Missourian is fairly correct in his assessment of Gold being the constant... and the standard.

But unlike Twinkies and other such goods, Gold is prone to wild speculative swings. It's price - based on any comparison one might chose - has fluctuated dramatically since we ended Bretton Woods. While one might make an argument that some inherent value of gold doesnt' change much over time, the price has changed dramatically without any significant change in either the supply or the demand from utilization.

 

[Jos]

Have Gold= Happy

 

[B. Kidd]

Have Gold= Happy

But gold is finite anymore.
Nothing to base a currency on.
Ex-Pat grasps that.

 

[sparky]

so then, why is it illegal to own (other than jewlrey) gold folks?

~S~

 

[Avatar9]

I had an epiphany today.

Having been born long after the sunset of the gold standard backing currency, in my mind I think of the dollar as being the constant and gold value increasing...but in reality, gold is the constant.

Consider golds value is always the same, but as the dollar is deminished, it takes more to buy the same amount of gold.

Now this may be common knowledge to most of you, but to me it was a completely new and unsettling perspective of the devaluation of the dollar.

That's SORT of true. Certainly the dollar's loss of value in our lifetimes makes gold seem like a thing of true worth by comparison

But gold doesn't really have a constant value, either, really.

It's value changes against all other things (of intrinsic worth) depending on the state of the economy.

But as a hedge against uncertainty, gold does have a shining history of retaining a fairly good relative value over time, that is certain.

subjective value 101

 

[Avatar9]

Have Gold= Happy

You have gold and no food.

I have food and no use for a hunk of yellow metal.

You starve while I get fat.

How happy did that gold make you?

 

[sjay]

so then, why is it illegal to own (other than jewlrey) gold folks?

~S~

since when is it illegal to own?

 

[Jos]

Executive Order 6102 had made it a criminal offense for U.S. citizens to own or trade gold anywhere in the world, with exceptions for some jewelry and collector's coins. These prohibitions were relaxed starting in 1964 – gold certificates were again allowed for private investors on April 24, 1964, although the obligation to pay the certificate holder on demand in gold specie would not be honored. By 1975 Americans could again freely own and trade gold.

Gold Reserve Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Now this

Liberty Dollars may be subject to seizure

Liberty Dollars may be subject to seizure | CoinWorld

 

[Jos]

Have Gold= Happy

You have gold and no food.

I have food and no use for a hunk of yellow metal.

You starve while I get fat.

How happy did that gold make you?

I have Gold AND food,
anytime I like,
I can go somewhere else in the world and exchange Gold for my Needs,

If you had the chance to own gold and silver are you implying you wouldn't take that opportunity?

 

[Avatar9]

Executive Order 6102 had made it a criminal offense for U.S. citizens to own or trade gold anywhere in the world, with exceptions for some jewelry and collector's coins. These prohibitions were relaxed starting in 1964 – gold certificates were again allowed for private investors on April 24, 1964, although the obligation to pay the certificate holder on demand in gold specie would not be honored. By 1975 Americans could again freely own and trade gold.

Gold Reserve Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Now this

Liberty Dollars may be subject to seizure

Liberty Dollars may be subject to seizure | CoinWorld

Let's read your link...

These prohibitions were relaxed starting in 1964 – gold certificates were again allowed for private investors on April 24, 1964, although the obligation to pay the certificate holder on demand in gold specie would not be honored. By 1975 Americans could again freely own and trade gold.

​

anytime I like,
I can go somewhere else in the world and exchange Gold for my Needs,

really? If shtf, what do you think people will want: a soft yellow metal or food and ammo?

I have no need for your hunk of yellow metal. Come back when you have have something useful to trade for.