Lorne : I most certainly don't worship the dollar. Indeed, it's strange that you think I do. Or that anyone does --- or would even want to.
If the US economy does badly and the dollar falls then some other currency(ies) will rise in its stead. Dollar can't fall against fresh air. The values of the currencies are all relative to each other. So maybe, even gold, could have a resurgence of interest. This coincides with your view. I'm not clairvoyant so I can't say what will happen.
But I can assure you that, for a country to have a weak currency, need not be a disaster. The dollar, which is so strong now, was weak for a long time previously. And the SAf rand has been in virtual free-fall since 1980, when the gold price hit $850. In fact, various governments here extol the virtues of having a weak currency believing that it's good for exports. To the extent that, if it were not for the weak rand, most gold mines would be closed already. Unfortunately, a continually depreciating currency chases away investment and necessitates ruinous interest rates. Meanwhile, if it wasn't for crime, life in SAf is still fine.
My own view, expressed frequently, is that a weak dollar is good for POG. In fact, it would seem when the currencies rise against the dollar, one of the reasons is that the European currencies have (in the past) been significantly gold backed. Certainly the Swiss Franc was.
Nothing is permanent. Nothing is fixed. The currencies and commodities see-saw in value. As does the strength of economies. Also civilisations rise and fall. Life, itself, is a dynamic flux of energy between animate and inanimate things. So why should anyone want a standard, like the gold standard. If you believe paper money depreciates, as it does, use it to buy an asset --- stocks, property, art --- you name it. Only idiots want to KEEP paper money as an investment. Paper money is only a means to an end.
I don't understand why you believe I'm an anti-gold person. I'm not. In fact, I probably have more, and I probably have had more, invested in gold shares than many/most who proclaim so vociferously on these threads about their love for gold. But, I'm anti-goldbug. I'm anti those who who are attempting to change the rules without having either the power or the means to do it. I believe they are simply wasting their time and energy and creating false expectations in themselves and in others. And, in the process, they create a lot of unpleasantness for those who they believe are not like them or with them.
Be well.
Searle |
