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The Venezuelan upperclass despises Chavez and fears him. Well in that case, why would they trust him to make right on his promise to deliver them the gold + 2%
by dotBen 15y ago
The Venezuelan upperclass despises Chavez and fears him.
Well in that case, why would they trust him to make right on his promise to deliver them the gold + 2% in a foreign vault upon the physical surrender of their own gold? Why would they even want to indicate they had such gold in their physical possession and thus open up potential further scrutiny to their affairs and net worth?
You're probably right that they don't trust him, but that just further makes this idea untenable.
- gwern 15y agoIt's an iterated prisoner's dilemma. All you need are a few people to turn in some gold (for any reason, including because they trust Chavez), and then check with the Bank of England that the appropriate sum has been credited to their account with the Bank, and you're done. The cycle has been started - if Chavez really wants the gold physically in Venezuela (as he apparently does if he's seriously considering the various extremely expensive options available), at no point does he have incentive to defect except at the very end, where the reward for defecting is minimal.