Germany and Italy pressed to bring $245B of gold home from US • Hacker News Board

Re: Germany and Italy pressed to bring $245B of gold home from US

#101

Post by parthdesai » Mon, Jun 23, 2025, 12:51 PM UTC

SuperShibe wrote: post #87

The Germans in this article all appear to be aligned to either BSW (populist far-left, pro-Russia, anti-US) or AfD (populist far-right, pro-Russia). BSW wasn't even elected into the parliament and AfD, while being part of the parliament, has virtually no power due to not being part of the government coalition and all other parties sharing an informal agreement to not pass legislations with the help of AfD. What I'm t…

Is far-left really pro-Russia or just anti-US? Not everyone that is anti-US (which a lot of people with common sense would be tbf) is pro-Russia

Re: Germany and Italy pressed to bring $245B of gold home from US

#102

Post by jamil7 » Mon, Jun 23, 2025, 12:53 PM UTC

SuperShibe wrote: post #87

The Germans in this article all appear to be aligned to either BSW (populist far-left, pro-Russia, anti-US) or AfD (populist far-right, pro-Russia). BSW wasn't even elected into the parliament and AfD, while being part of the parliament, has virtually no power due to not being part of the government coalition and all other parties sharing an informal agreement to not pass legislations with the help of AfD. What I'm t…

I thought Wagenknecht had somewhat distanced herself from pro-kremlin positions she and parts of Die Linke previously held? She's still pretty staunchly anti-NATO, though. I think her German-nationalist positions kind of overlap with positions that benefit Russia like resuming gas supplies to drop energy prices and heating costs.

Re: Germany and Italy pressed to bring $245B of gold home from US

#103

Post by FpUser » Mon, Jun 23, 2025, 12:54 PM UTC

littlestymaar wrote: post #96

FpUser wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So repatriating your own property is now pro-Russian propaganda? Unless country is defenseless what is wrong with keeping one's things at one's place

Both things can be true at once: the politicians talking can have legitimates arguments while being part of pro-Russian parties that don't have power in Germany and do not represent the German government opinion.

Well then the arguments should be considered on their merits without bringing political BS.

Otherwise following the logic if Afd tells Merz not to jump from that bridge he should do the opposite.

Re: Germany and Italy pressed to bring $245B of gold home from US

#104

Post by 1970-01-01 » Mon, Jun 23, 2025, 12:54 PM UTC

amelius wrote: post #6

Question, how do you test if a bar of gold is really 100% gold without deforming it?

Nobody is holding 100% gold. The highest purity is 99.999% and anyone holding that either has an outstanding reputation and XFR scans to back that number or is trying to sell you a lead brick.

Re: Germany and Italy pressed to bring $245B of gold home from US

#105

Post by vincnetas » Mon, Jun 23, 2025, 12:54 PM UTC

FpUser wrote: post #92

SuperShibe wrote: post #87

The Germans in this article all appear to be aligned to either BSW (populist far-left, pro-Russia, anti-US) or AfD (populist far-right, pro-Russia). BSW wasn't even elected into the parliament and AfD, while being part of the parliament, has virtually no power due to not being part of the government coalition and all other parties sharing an informal agreement to not pass legislations with the help of AfD. What I'm t…

So repatriating your own property is now pro-Russian propaganda? Unless country is defenseless what is wrong with keeping one's things at one's place

Usually russian propoganda is anything that stirs internal conflict. This does not mean that any internal conflict is russia propoganda, but they are very quick to try amplify any conflicts. This is KGB strategy of active measures (subversion). Read more here : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_Bezmenov

Re: Germany and Italy pressed to bring $245B of gold home from US

#106

Post by dubbel » Mon, Jun 23, 2025, 12:54 PM UTC

FpUser wrote: post #92

SuperShibe wrote: post #87

The Germans in this article all appear to be aligned to either BSW (populist far-left, pro-Russia, anti-US) or AfD (populist far-right, pro-Russia). BSW wasn't even elected into the parliament and AfD, while being part of the parliament, has virtually no power due to not being part of the government coalition and all other parties sharing an informal agreement to not pass legislations with the help of AfD. What I'm t…

So repatriating your own property is now pro-Russian propaganda? Unless country is defenseless what is wrong with keeping one's things at one's place

We are talking about national gold reserves, not some household items.

They exist for the reason to liquidate them in case of national emergencies/severe economic crises. It's easier to liquidate these reserves when they are stored in trading hubs. That could be New York and London, or maybe even Shanghai, if China wasn't a systemic rival.

Storing all of them at "one's place" is a larger risk than splitting it up and storing them in several places, each with a different risk profile.

Re: Germany and Italy pressed to bring $245B of gold home from US

#107

Post by djtango » Mon, Jun 23, 2025, 12:54 PM UTC

petesergeant wrote: post #94

junga wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honest question: does this necessarily require the physical transport of gold?

No, they could sell the gold in the US to purchase gold that’s already physically closer for a slight premium. Possibly that ends up being cheaper than actual transport.

In December there was a large movement of physical gold from London to New York as banks closed their EFP arbs. This was enough to put a lot of pressure on the market.

I imagine if Germany did that with their reserves a similar effect would come about.

Re: Germany and Italy pressed to bring $245B of gold home from US

#108

Post by mdavid626 » Mon, Jun 23, 2025, 12:55 PM UTC

SuperShibe wrote: post #87

The Germans in this article all appear to be aligned to either BSW (populist far-left, pro-Russia, anti-US) or AfD (populist far-right, pro-Russia). BSW wasn't even elected into the parliament and AfD, while being part of the parliament, has virtually no power due to not being part of the government coalition and all other parties sharing an informal agreement to not pass legislations with the help of AfD. What I'm t…

This is a very skewed view of the political landscape. Would be nice to forget this pro/anti Russia narrative. Please also note that AfD has become the strongest party in Germany. Sure, firewalled, but question is, for how long.

Re: Germany and Italy pressed to bring $245B of gold home from US

#109

Post by jxjnskkzxxhx » Mon, Jun 23, 2025, 12:55 PM UTC

nxm wrote: post #28

theGeatZhopa wrote: post #11

Bring it home. US can't be trusted anymore. Bring it home.

*can’t be taken advantage of anymore easily

People are taking advantage of the US by asking the US to hold their gold?

Let me guess who you voted for.

Re: Germany and Italy pressed to bring $245B of gold home from US

#110

Post by bboygravity » Mon, Jun 23, 2025, 12:55 PM UTC

SuperShibe wrote: post #87

The Germans in this article all appear to be aligned to either BSW (populist far-left, pro-Russia, anti-US) or AfD (populist far-right, pro-Russia). BSW wasn't even elected into the parliament and AfD, while being part of the parliament, has virtually no power due to not being part of the government coalition and all other parties sharing an informal agreement to not pass legislations with the help of AfD. What I'm t…

That's all fine and dandy, but also IMO it's entirely possible that the US cannot deliver their gold if these countries (and/or others) wanted it back.

Just look at what happened when Venezuela wanted their gold back. It took ages and that was a relatively tiny amount.

It's extremely naive for many EU countries to still believe that they "have" "their" gold stored in the US. And even more naive to not try and get it back.

The entire US banking and financial system relies on NOT delivering or owning the underlying (fractional reserve banking, federal reserve printing money out of thin air, failures to deliver every single day on everything from stocks to government bonds, failing CDS'es and so on).