http://www.tijd.be/nieuws/economie-financien/Citi_strikt_Buiter_als_hoofdeconoom_.8266354-600.art

right!
here is the Wiki version of the 1933 Double Eagle coin story of physical ownership

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1933_Double_Eagle

As you, i believe in silver and copper instead, if making a play in metals. At least both have a practical industrial application and US investors would rather buy a silver eagle than a gold coin.

Sincerely,

Sincerely,

The point is that until this financial/economic crisis gold used to be seen as a save haven for preserving wealth, because it was independent from inflation/deflation and reserve currencies.
Today it just moves up as the USD goes down… and even worse, in real terms it’s actually half the price of the highs it reached during the mid 1970s.
I just don’t see how, considering all that, gold can be still called a save haven.
It’s only just a hedge, nothing more and nothing less.
That’s why it’s price is irrelevant.

If gold were to serve as an anchor for this scenario, then i would not be afraid either of buying it, but i do not believe that such will be the case.
Gold may be a temporary play for now but not long term.

A low dollar ( a hidden tax),a near to zero interest rate,,CD’s,money markets,bonds : the coming inflation from a dying dollar alone could render these investments al losers,real estate is ?,Gold :
During WWI the US government kept gold prices frozen at 20,67 dollar/ounce,thanks to the Gold Standard Act of 1900
During WWII Franklin Roosevelt’s “fix” on gold remained locked in place.

After the OPEC oil crisi of the 1970’s gold (unleashed from the dollar) exploded just under 150 % in only 4 years.

During the gold run from 1960 to 1980 gold exploded for a 2429 % return.

Ten thousand dollars over the last ten years invested in S and P stocks lost 3987 dollar and gold grew to 33754 dollar or a gain of 238 %

The best year return in the past 25 years are 31 % for S & P Dow stocks,198 % for rare coins and 100 % for the gold bullion.

Not much of the following is notnews for you :

Gold demand is higher now than ever before,but gold supplies are down

Governments can print mone (QE) but they can’t print gold or silver

Gold rises during periods of deflation too,as governments print money in a panic,trying to keep stalled economies from falling apart

Gold is a “wealth insurance” during wartime,during stock market crashes,too

Bejing is urging Chinese citizens to buy gold and silver.Hoarding is underway in Russia and India.

Here are some quotes of our “provocateur” Marc Faber :

GLOOM

A very weak economy is best for stocks,because it will induce more money printing from central banks.However this will only make matters worse over the longer term as the US government has no stomach for reigning in budget deficits expected to reach 2 trillion dollar .it is merely underwriting the bankers’ mistakes..Down the line a point of debt revulsion will come;

DOOM :

TThe future will be a total disaster with a collapse of our capitalistic system as we know it today,wars (Iraq,Afghanistan,etc),massive government debt defaults and the IMPOVERISHMENT of large segments of Western society.

History learns us :

Unsustainable DEBT BUBBLES usually end in Depression,war and strife.

BOOM

Marc Faber likes drug stocks.

He thinks that bonds and cash will be the worst Long Term investments because of inflation.

Marc faber overweight Asia,as he believes emerging markets will grow faster than the West.

What thus he says about Goldman Sachs?

Theu are really a smart group of people.

And another quote of him :
I am hundred percent sure that the US will go into hyperinflation.

In the book of Liaquat Ahamed “Lords of Finance” that the monetary tightening of 1928 eventually broke the BOOM.

But the failure of the Fed to restore liquidity after the collapse was the principal cause of the Depression.

And of course that has been the great lesson of the Depression-sometimes overlearned.

Conclusion :

What all today’s fears or hopes that capitalism is finished reveal is a great ignorance of history.

We all have been to places like the present crisis BEFORE.

Did I ever say owning gold was ever made illegal in Europe? NO
I wrote that it was the case in the US – under the New Deal.
The Great Depression is was a bad example? Really! gold rose in price for 3 years after the start of the Great Depression – just as now, since the start of this crisis in 2007.
Your argument that the gold standard was in place… so what? the New Deal made owning gold illegal and all gold had to be exchanged for USD at a fixed rated by the government. This is why Fort Knox was built… before the New Deal there was no Bullion Depository.
Hitler is a bad example too… really? And would he have been elected if not for the economic and financial situation at the time? He didn’t need to make ownership of gold illegal – he had the means to just take it.

Gold as an anchor to currencies… you seem to have missed a few point about gold and currencies:
- they are both controlled and manipulated – there is no free market for them; and when one goes off the rails so does the other!
- “a new and more honest system” where gold reserves determine the amount of currency… right! and what will governments be prepared to do in order to get their hands on as much gold as possible? Yes – New Deal and WWII all over again
- the gold standard was revoked by the US in 1970s because they had sold all their gold by that time; continuing with it would have meant buying gold from Russia
- today the question is not who has the largest gold reserves in their volts, rather who has it in their ground. Look at the few instigated armed conflicts around the world in the past 3 years – all in gold rich places not under US control yet.

You are writing:” The gold play is just a prelude to such scenario and…..”
I join the question of Jeroen: “What’s your point ….? Why?