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To: Brumell who wrote (2055)	9/12/2001 3:26:18 PM
From: Claude Cormier	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 4051

I think that these people have expressed more than I can why gold is money: "Gold still represents the ultimate form of payment in the world." — Alan Greenspan, May 1999, Testimony before US House Banking Committee "Trade between nations, whether free enterprise or socialistic, depends, in the last analysis, upon mutual trust and confidence. Gold supplies that ingredient." — Senator Barry Goldwater "Paper money eventually goes down to its intrinsic value - zero." — Voltaire, 1729 "Gold is an objective value, an equivalent of wealth produced. Paper is a mortgage on wealth that does not exist." — Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged "The reason for using a commodity as money is precisely to prevent any political influence from affecting directly the value of the monetary unit. Gold is not the standard money solely on account of its brilliance or its physical and chemical characteristics. Gold is the standard of money primarily because an increase or decrease in the available quantity is independent of the orders issued by political authorities". — Ludwig von Mises 1923 On the Manipulation of Money and Credit. But if you want my definition... gold is a medium of exchange that I can trust because I know that, despite its volatility, it will maintain its purchasing power all over the world, over decades and centuries. That is why I could buy a small bungalow with 1 kilo of gold some 50 years ago and I still can today.

To: Brumell who wrote (2055)	9/12/2001 3:35:10 PM
From: Claude Cormier	Respond to of 4051

BTW Bob, I know that Russia is still a big mess and cannot compare the the US on an economic level, but what they are preparing in terms of new gold-backed currency make you think that gold is money. And I am sure that they are not alone preparin for the next paradigm. The Euro started it when they announced that 15% of their foreign reserves would be in gold. The Russian are doing it with the Chevronetz..others will follow.

To: Brumell who wrote (2055)	9/12/2001 7:00:46 PM
From: russet	Respond to of 4051

Is gold money? In many areas of the world, it is, because people use it as a vehicle to store their wealth, and they purchase goods and services with it. Because we live in an area of the world that does not regularly use gold as a common currency at street level, doesn't mean that we can say that the use of gold as a currency or a store of wealth is dead everywhere, or all the time. Currency is simply something that two or more people agree represents some value that can be used to acquire property or services in exchange for the currency. That can be gold, paper, seashells, guns, bullets etc., etc. It is humans that determine that gold has that value, and it is subjective to the human condition. It's value then comes from the balance of supply vs demand for it, similar to any other currency, product or service. Money is a human construction, and anything that two or more humans decide will be money, can be money to them. I think it is safe to say that gold will be used as a currency and store of wealth for many years to come. It will also retain some value for many years to come,...what that value is, is subject to the whims, wants and needs of human beings and to some extent the supply of the metal. Because the supply of the metal is restricted, and not subject to large increases in a short period of time, its use as a currency is naturally protected from counterfeiting, or quick accumulation by the average person for little work at all. This is critical for any currency. If/when an average human can create gold from lead or some other cheap material using their electric atomic accelerator bought from WalMart, then it will be safe to say that gold's days as a currency or money will be over. The same is true for any form of money. Until then the value of gold will be determined by how much someone is willing to pay for it,....supply vs demand. The value of the US$ is determined the same way,...supply vs demand. In some places the US$ is worthless,...but in most places on this earth, it has some value,..and will continue to have value as long as humans place some value on it. If suddenly the average joe can print up US$ in his basement using a printer bought from WalMart,...it would become worthless too.