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Gold is useful, but most of it's value doesn't derive from its industrial uses. Only 11% of gold production goes to non-jewellery industry. Furthermore, it's n

Gold is useful, but most of it's value doesn't derive from its industrial uses. Only 11% of gold production goes to non-jewellery industry. Furthermore, it's non-industrial value doesn't derive from its industrial use: if industry could switch to something else overnight (like fillings did), gold would still be a value store.

helsinkiandrew 4y ago
Theres the startling fact that Indian housewives hold 11% of all gold - presumably predominantly decoration and wealth storage.
- bombcar 4y ago
  Heh fun to assume the 11% in both are the same; all industrial usage of gold is limited to Indian housewives.
- gumby 4y ago
  > presumably predominantly decoration and wealth storage. People without access to banks wear their wealth on them. That seems super risky but you see it every day on the street. I suppose they have no alternative. I have seen in photos that when my parents married my mother was draped in gold, which she never wore again. As a kid I once was with her when she visited her safety deposit box and I picked up one of the bangles which immediately bent out of circularity. It wasn't designed to be worn, or at least to be worn once, very carefully. Jewelry stores in the US don't seem to sell by weight. I remember jewelry stores always pulling out the scale and calculator to tell you the price -- it must have changed every day.
- more_corn 4y ago
  They also adorn their children. I asked why families living on the street would spend so much to give a child a gold earring. “So if they get lost the person who finds them knows someone cares about them and wants them back”
gumby 4y ago
> gold would still be a value store. Gold as an asset reminds me of those NASDAQ-listed companies that assert they will never declare a dividend. Any intrinsic value their stock might have is simply the belief that someday, somebody else will buy it.
- smeagull 4y ago
  In my country dividends are the only part of investing in stocks that is taxed. Consider: Any value my money has is simply the belief that someday, someone else will accept it in exchange for something else.
  - gumby 4y ago
    > Any value my money has is simply the belief that someday, someone else will accept it in exchange for something else. Yes of course but cash is quite liquid while a share is not. In other words, that dollar will be accepted by the butcher, baker, or cabinet maker while demand for that share of coinbase fluctuates wildly.

helsinkiandrew 4y ago

Theres the startling fact that Indian housewives hold 11% of all gold - presumably predominantly decoration and wealth storage.

bombcar 4y ago
Heh fun to assume the 11% in both are the same; all industrial usage of gold is limited to Indian housewives.
gumby 4y ago
> presumably predominantly decoration and wealth storage. People without access to banks wear their wealth on them. That seems super risky but you see it every day on the street. I suppose they have no alternative. I have seen in photos that when my parents married my mother was draped in gold, which she never wore again. As a kid I once was with her when she visited her safety deposit box and I picked up one of the bangles which immediately bent out of circularity. It wasn't designed to be worn, or at least to be worn once, very carefully. Jewelry stores in the US don't seem to sell by weight. I remember jewelry stores always pulling out the scale and calculator to tell you the price -- it must have changed every day.
more_corn 4y ago
They also adorn their children. I asked why families living on the street would spend so much to give a child a gold earring. “So if they get lost the person who finds them knows someone cares about them and wants them back”

gumby 4y ago

> gold would still be a value store. Gold as an asset reminds me of those NASDAQ-listed companies that assert they will never declare a dividend. Any intrinsic value their stock might have is simply the belief that someday, somebody else will buy it.

smeagull 4y ago
In my country dividends are the only part of investing in stocks that is taxed. Consider: Any value my money has is simply the belief that someday, someone else will accept it in exchange for something else.
- gumby 4y ago
  > Any value my money has is simply the belief that someday, someone else will accept it in exchange for something else. Yes of course but cash is quite liquid while a share is not. In other words, that dollar will be accepted by the butcher, baker, or cabinet maker while demand for that share of coinbase fluctuates wildly.