3 ms·

But isn't it the case that gold has an arbitrary value as well ("they say it has value")? It has no intrinsic value. It just sits there.

• Kaizyn 11y ago
  Gold is durable, and it is shiny and pretty - trinkets and baubles made out of it look good. Humans throughout history have regarded it as desirable and have prized it. This sort of cross-cultural widespread agreement is what gives it its value.
  • cgh 11y ago
    Sure, but it's still an agreement. There's a cross-cultural agreement that the US dollar is worth something too. I don't really see the difference, but I'm not an economist. That said, I wouldn't make baubles out of dollars.
    • MCRed 11y ago
      There's a big difference between the two. Gold's price (in a free market, which unfortunately we don't have anymore) is an agreement of market forces-- supply and demand. The Dollar's price comes from government use of force to make people use it. (this includes internationally.) If you'd like to get an opinion from a good economist check out: http://mises.org/money.asp http://mises.org/money.asp