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Real question...what is useful about gold today that makes it valuable, other than it's scarcity?

by bluntfang 7y ago

ChuckMcM 7y ago
It is actually an industrial metal.
Marcus316 7y ago
All sorts of electronics have gold in them. Minute traces, to be sure ... but it is a use ...
TotempaaltJ 7y ago
Its scarcity is the primary reason it holds value, from what I understand. But: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold#Other_applications https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold#Other_applications Electronics mostly, it seems.
throwayEngineer 7y ago
It's scare. Yes. It's a rock trading card that people have been trading for thousands of years. The industrial uses exist, but it's a vehicle of Economic exchange. This is why I find Bitcoin useful. It's nuclear chemistry proof.
- SubiculumCode 7y ago
  Let us say that there was a nuclear war, and everyone left is near starvation, lacks resources and security. What holds value? Gold? I'd say useful or desired commodities: Food, fuel, guns, working machines, liquor, tobacco. Perhaps gold will be settled on as the most fungible (and transportable) material for trade, but if I were preparing for such times, I would be betting on the commodity, not an inert bit of metal.
  - Nasrudith 7y ago
    Of course those commodities are pretty terrible currencies in non-destabilized to a dark age times.
- EpicEng 7y ago
  >This is why I find Bitcoin useful. It's nuclear chemistry proof. But not people proof, as it's wild fluctuations will attest to.
- mrob 7y ago
  If we have energy cheap enough to make nuclear transmutation a practical source of gold then the economy is already unrecognizable.
- germs12 7y ago
  Completely agree.
sunseb 7y ago
Gold is a symbol. Gold is the color of the sun. Gold is a pure metal (which doesn't rust). It's like the metal of the gods.
ericd 7y ago
It’s the incredibly long and consistent history of being considered valuable. It cannot easily be devalued by any government, unlike any fiat currency. It’s extremely portable, even for relatively large values of it. And faith in all those things is what gives it value.
Agathos 7y ago
https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2011/02/07/131363098/the-tuesday-podcast-why-gold https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2011/02/07/131363098/the-...
AnimalMuppet 7y ago
Its scarcity. The US Federal Reserve can create dollars at their discretion, but they can't change the chemical composition of the earth's crust. You can think of gold as insurance against fiat currencies being debased by their issuing governments. You can also be pretty sure that it will be valuable anywhere you go.

Real question...what is useful about gold today that makes it valuable, other than it's scarcity?

ChuckMcM 7y ago

It is actually an industrial metal.

Marcus316 7y ago

All sorts of electronics have gold in them. Minute traces, to be sure ... but it is a use ...

TotempaaltJ 7y ago

Its scarcity is the primary reason it holds value, from what I understand. But: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold#Other_applications https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold#Other_applications Electronics mostly, it seems.

throwayEngineer 7y ago

It's scare. Yes. It's a rock trading card that people have been trading for thousands of years. The industrial uses exist, but it's a vehicle of Economic exchange. This is why I find Bitcoin useful. It's nuclear chemistry proof.

SubiculumCode 7y ago
Let us say that there was a nuclear war, and everyone left is near starvation, lacks resources and security. What holds value? Gold? I'd say useful or desired commodities: Food, fuel, guns, working machines, liquor, tobacco. Perhaps gold will be settled on as the most fungible (and transportable) material for trade, but if I were preparing for such times, I would be betting on the commodity, not an inert bit of metal.
- Nasrudith 7y ago
  Of course those commodities are pretty terrible currencies in non-destabilized to a dark age times.
EpicEng 7y ago
>This is why I find Bitcoin useful. It's nuclear chemistry proof. But not people proof, as it's wild fluctuations will attest to.
mrob 7y ago
If we have energy cheap enough to make nuclear transmutation a practical source of gold then the economy is already unrecognizable.
germs12 7y ago
Completely agree.

sunseb 7y ago

Gold is a symbol. Gold is the color of the sun. Gold is a pure metal (which doesn't rust). It's like the metal of the gods.

ericd 7y ago

It’s the incredibly long and consistent history of being considered valuable. It cannot easily be devalued by any government, unlike any fiat currency. It’s extremely portable, even for relatively large values of it. And faith in all those things is what gives it value.

Agathos 7y ago

https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2011/02/07/131363098/the-tuesday-podcast-why-gold https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2011/02/07/131363098/the-...

AnimalMuppet 7y ago

Its scarcity. The US Federal Reserve can create dollars at their discretion, but they can't change the chemical composition of the earth's crust. You can think of gold as insurance against fiat currencies being debased by their issuing governments. You can also be pretty sure that it will be valuable anywhere you go.