Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Gold/Mining/Energy : Global Platinum & Gold (GPGI) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Odi Handoko who wrote (4729)	1/13/1998 9:10:00 AM
From: Henry Volquardsen	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 14226

Odi, I am very serious about what backs the US currency as well as others. And why would gold give it any greater backing? You would still have to have faith that the government would hand over it's gold in a crisis. That is no greater or lesser faith than they would use their other resources to support the currency. Whenever you accept a government sponsored currency you are putting faith in their willingness to support it. Currencies have been backed by gold in the past only to see that promise debased. I am not trying to be anti gold. I recognize that gold has its purposes and has had its value in the past. My point was that you need to analyze it and every other vehicle in its present context. I pointed out that I felt gold was currently suffering because at the moment the global capital environment is relatively free and good at policing currency debasers. This produces an environment in which there are numerous alternatives to gold. Can this change? Of course it can. If the current turmoil results in an a more restrictive capital environment it would improve gold's relative attractivness. But you would need a change in the currency environment. You state Tell that to the folks whose lives were saved because they had gold to begin with when all else fails. If you are talking about the current environment they could also have been saved if they had dollar assets. If you are talking about the past, many of those examples occurred when restrictive capital controls limited alternatives...which is exactly my base point. But many people were also saved because they were able to convert their wealth to gems. Should we instead use diamonds to back currencies? My point is that there are too many people who are emotionally pro or anti gold. Both parties allow their emotional commitment to cloud their ability to objectively analyze the current environment and assess the prospects going forward. Henry