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I’m not sure an economist (a mainstream economist) would really care that much about an individual holding gold. Maybe there’s an interesting behavioral questio

I’m not sure an economist (a mainstream economist) would really care that much about an individual holding gold. Maybe there’s an interesting behavioral question about why people become so paranoid about the value of the dollar when it’s proven to be so incredibly stable (yes, even with the recent spike in inflation—it’s nothing close to hyperinflation). But people going to Costco and buying gold doesn’t have an effect on the wider economy. Costco’s business isn’t even really affected. Gold is not money. It’s never going to be money again. So why care?

mschuster91 3y ago
> Maybe there’s an interesting behavioral question about why people become so paranoid about the value of the dollar when it’s proven to be so incredibly stable Because we live in very uncertain times: a land-grab war in continental Europe, a serious and credible threat of both the US and a lot of European countries to fall to fascism, the threat of the US government going into an unprecedented shutdown yet again, and if that were not enough, it's reasonable to assume there will be an actual hot war with China in a few years' time. Historically, people have always fled towards gold in uncertain times.
Hendrikto 3y ago
> why people become so paranoid about the value of the dollar when it’s proven to be so incredibly stable Every fiat currency that ever existed collapsed at some point. > Gold is not money. It’s never going to be money again. So why care? Gold survived all of them. It’s still being used as a financial instrument, after thousands of years, countless wars, changes of government, complete societal collapse and reorganization… Gold is definitely a safer long-term bet.
- baron816 3y ago
  Gold as a long term bet: https://www.reddit.com/r/FluentInFinance/comments/16upmcj/gold_vs_sp_500_over_the_last_3_decades/ https://www.reddit.com/r/FluentInFinance/comments/16upmcj/go...
  - Hendrikto 3y ago
    What’s your point? I can also point to timespans where gold outperformed any other currency. If you make the period long enough, it is all of them.
bondarchuk 3y ago
>I’m not sure an economist (a mainstream economist) would really care that much about an individual holding gold. Roosevelt seemed to care quite a bit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_6102 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_6102 Apparently this lasted until 1974 (not sure about the details though, I always hear about the executive order in 1933 but never about the impossibility of owning gold between 1933 and 1974 - but that's what the articles seem to say) so a lot of mainstream economists have at least implicitly agreed. https://www.nytimes.com/1974/08/15/archives/bill-signed-to-allow-owning-gold-in-us-gold-ownership-in-u-s.html https://www.nytimes.com/1974/08/15/archives/bill-signed-to-a...

mschuster91 3y ago

> Maybe there’s an interesting behavioral question about why people become so paranoid about the value of the dollar when it’s proven to be so incredibly stable Because we live in very uncertain times: a land-grab war in continental Europe, a serious and credible threat of both the US and a lot of European countries to fall to fascism, the threat of the US government going into an unprecedented shutdown yet again, and if that were not enough, it's reasonable to assume there will be an actual hot war with China in a few years' time. Historically, people have always fled towards gold in uncertain times.

Hendrikto 3y ago

> why people become so paranoid about the value of the dollar when it’s proven to be so incredibly stable Every fiat currency that ever existed collapsed at some point. > Gold is not money. It’s never going to be money again. So why care? Gold survived all of them. It’s still being used as a financial instrument, after thousands of years, countless wars, changes of government, complete societal collapse and reorganization… Gold is definitely a safer long-term bet.

baron816 3y ago
Gold as a long term bet: https://www.reddit.com/r/FluentInFinance/comments/16upmcj/gold_vs_sp_500_over_the_last_3_decades/ https://www.reddit.com/r/FluentInFinance/comments/16upmcj/go...
- Hendrikto 3y ago
  What’s your point? I can also point to timespans where gold outperformed any other currency. If you make the period long enough, it is all of them.

bondarchuk 3y ago

>I’m not sure an economist (a mainstream economist) would really care that much about an individual holding gold. Roosevelt seemed to care quite a bit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_6102 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_6102 Apparently this lasted until 1974 (not sure about the details though, I always hear about the executive order in 1933 but never about the impossibility of owning gold between 1933 and 1974 - but that's what the articles seem to say) so a lot of mainstream economists have at least implicitly agreed. https://www.nytimes.com/1974/08/15/archives/bill-signed-to-allow-owning-gold-in-us-gold-ownership-in-u-s.html https://www.nytimes.com/1974/08/15/archives/bill-signed-to-a...