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Gold does not have intrinsic value.

by lbarrow 14y ago

gamblor956 14y ago
Intrinsic value means the value inherent in the good itself. Gold has intrinsic value: it is one of the best semiconducting metals, and is easily malleable. Gold also demonstrates antibacterial properties. Note that palladium, another precious metal that routinely trades at high prices, also has "intrinsic" value as a catalytic agent. Platinum, which is currently trading at higher prices than gold, is one of the least corrosive heavy metals.
- trhtrsh 14y ago
  and bitcoin has entertainment value, like a movie DVD. no one would spending $1000/oz on the world's supply of gold for semiconductance -- only a small amount on the margin would satisfy all industrial demand. >90% The price of gold is supported by currency "shared delusion", just like BTC.
  - dragonwriter 14y ago
    > and bitcoin has entertainment value, like a movie DVD. Unlike the intrinsic value of gold (which, certainly, is much lower than its current market value), the entertainment value of bitcoin is unlikely to be retained in the event of the kind of crisis that would occur with the collapse in major internationally recognized soveriegn currencies like the dollar and euro. So, while bitcoin might have similar utility to gold on the assumption that major world currencies are largely, themselves, stable, its not better than gold as an insurance against those systems collapsing. Now, personally, I think that hoarding any type of alternative currencies against major collapse (rather than keeping reserves of simple useful survival items) is foolish, many of the arguments for both gold and bitcoin are premised around a supposedly-inevitable collapse of traditional major sovereign currencies (and, particularly, the US dollar.) And, while I think neither gold not BTC is a good choice to protect against that kind of contingency, I think its pretty clear that BTC is far worse than gold in that role.
- zanny 14y ago
  Gold is never traded or exchanged for its intrinsic value. It is why I hate how people use gold as a monetary base, because it wastes a perfectly good metal with practical applications on being the shiny rare thing people hoard for money.
  - dragonwriter 14y ago
    > It is why I hate how people use gold as a monetary base, because it wastes a perfectly good metal with practical applications on being the shiny rare thing people hoard for money. I would argue that (among its other problems) Bitcoin has a parallel problem in that it wastes perfectly good computational power (and the resources that go into producing that computational power, both the hardware and the energy inputs) on being the intangible rare thing people hoard for money.

Gold does not have intrinsic value.

by lbarrow 14y ago

Gold does not have intrinsic value.

Intrinsic value means the value inherent in the good itself. Gold has intrinsic value: it is one of the best semiconducting metals, and is easily malleable. Gold also demonstrates antibacterial properties. Note that palladium, another precious metal that routinely trades at high prices, also has "intrinsic" value as a catalytic agent. Platinum, which is currently trading at higher prices than gold, is one of the least corrosive heavy metals.

trhtrsh 14y ago
and bitcoin has entertainment value, like a movie DVD. no one would spending $1000/oz on the world's supply of gold for semiconductance -- only a small amount on the margin would satisfy all industrial demand. >90% The price of gold is supported by currency "shared delusion", just like BTC.
- dragonwriter 14y ago
  > and bitcoin has entertainment value, like a movie DVD. Unlike the intrinsic value of gold (which, certainly, is much lower than its current market value), the entertainment value of bitcoin is unlikely to be retained in the event of the kind of crisis that would occur with the collapse in major internationally recognized soveriegn currencies like the dollar and euro. So, while bitcoin might have similar utility to gold on the assumption that major world currencies are largely, themselves, stable, its not better than gold as an insurance against those systems collapsing. Now, personally, I think that hoarding any type of alternative currencies against major collapse (rather than keeping reserves of simple useful survival items) is foolish, many of the arguments for both gold and bitcoin are premised around a supposedly-inevitable collapse of traditional major sovereign currencies (and, particularly, the US dollar.) And, while I think neither gold not BTC is a good choice to protect against that kind of contingency, I think its pretty clear that BTC is far worse than gold in that role.
zanny 14y ago
Gold is never traded or exchanged for its intrinsic value. It is why I hate how people use gold as a monetary base, because it wastes a perfectly good metal with practical applications on being the shiny rare thing people hoard for money.
- dragonwriter 14y ago
  > It is why I hate how people use gold as a monetary base, because it wastes a perfectly good metal with practical applications on being the shiny rare thing people hoard for money. I would argue that (among its other problems) Bitcoin has a parallel problem in that it wastes perfectly good computational power (and the resources that go into producing that computational power, both the hardware and the energy inputs) on being the intangible rare thing people hoard for money.