171–180 of 238 posts
There's no need for Germany to invade other EU members, because the ultimate goal of EU was to give the Germans control over the Europe without using military force, and that's working pretty well for them - they can keep other countries in check just because they provide most of the money to EU budget. But, Switzerland is NOT an EU member, so that's a different story :)
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Gold sort of works for sovereigns. It's crap for individuals. Any situation where you need to rely on physical gold is a situation where someone else will take it from you by force.
Yes, the value is much smaller since your power to keep it is smaller. But the amount will also be smaller. And I would say there are still quite a few situations where having something of trade value is better than having nothing.
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It certainly underscores the fact that gold is now a historical anachronism, economically speaking. Maybe what is going on here is just a step in the slow termination of that relationship, that has to be kept secret to stop it unraveling in a rush?
I've always wondered: what would happen when most nations central bank's gold holding drop below say 20%? or 10%? Is there a cliff where gold as a store of value just starts crashing? Or would the fantasy continue for the non-institutional holders for a while?
Most central banks have foreign reserves ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_foreign-e... ) and and central banks' gold reserves are typically less than 1% of their reserves. So gold backing any currency is just a small part of all gold in existence (about 170 000 000 kg ~ 7T USD)
For "all currency", the money supply is a lot (converted to USD): US M0 is 10T, UK 2.85T USD, Eurozone ~8T, Australia ~1.8T. And China, Japan, India and so on also has big monetary bases.
> Gold is money, which is based on physical ownership, not on trust in the willingness and ability of another party to honor their promises. If you have gold, but you do not have it under your control, it is almost pointless to have gold. Really digging this one. That's why I proactively not listen to investors/consultants who suggest to buy some gold derivates for savety purposes. In other regards: What's the point…
Gold is no longer tied to power. Real estate now defines who is to be king. Look to the wealth funds of the middle east. They dont trade oil for gold these days. They buy land, the real international currency. The man with the most diversified land across many countries is king.
There's no need for Germany to invade other EU members, because the ultimate goal of EU was to give the Germans control over the Europe without using military force, and that's working pretty well for them - they can keep other countries in check just because they provide most of the money to EU budget. But, Switzerland is NOT an EU member, so that's a different story :)
The precursor to the EU was the European Coal and Steel Community, a treaty organization proposed by the French not to give Germany power over Europe but to integrate Germany so that its interests aligned with those of France and the rest of Europe. The choice was simple: post-war Germany could be subjugated either militarily or economically. France could continue the occupation, leaving Germany without sovereignty a…
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The largest _private_ gold vault. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is meant to be the largest (there may be more in Swiss banks) holding about 7000 metric tons (apparently).
Which is around $280 billion, or about 1.5% of us GDP.
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You mean from Jews, during World War II? Then you're probably right :)
No. By the civil servants in the USA.
Yet as far as I know just making 3 people keep a secret for years is next to impossible.
If people wants me to believe in frauds so enourmous that you'll need hundreds of people to never mention anything - then I will need pretty solid evidence.
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...under wise and benevolent German rule. EDIT: of course a German (lispm) would deny that and downvote me for saying so :) But the fact is that whenever an important decision is made in EU it is first made in Chancellor Merkel's office, and then approved by EU Commision and Parliament, which act as a decoys. The latest example of that informal decision making process is the current refugee crisis.
Fake news. I haven't downvoted your post above. If you claim that the EU is ruled by Germany, the refugee crisis has clearly shown the opposite. Most countries did not follow German policies. Actually the press in Germany talked about being isolated in the EU in the refugee crisis. You also seem to be unfamiliar with how decision making works in the EU.
I tried to think of a reason for why you were downvoted but I cannot see any reason besides somebody being even more tired than me with the term fake news (I agree in this case though).
How do you even transport 300 tons of gold? Load it onto a military ship, maybe in smaller batches, and hope the crew isn't too corrupt?
When you phrase it like that you help build an understanding that this is common.
Unless you have sources for this I'd ask you to avoid spreading that idea.
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Gold sort of works for sovereigns. It's crap for individuals. Any situation where you need to rely on physical gold is a situation where someone else will take it from you by force.
Yes, the value is much smaller since your power to keep it is smaller. But the amount will also be smaller. And I would say there are still quite a few situations where having something of trade value is better than having nothing.
I struggle to think of ones where physically-held gold is better than cash. It only happens when your government fails. In that case (e.g. a Communist revolution or civil war) it's easier to kill you and take everything than negotiate. Where it might have had value, e.g. an American holding pounds sterling during the American Revolution, the old money held value. Selling gold to paranoid individuals is so profitable for a reason.
(The only time it may be useful is if you can tell someone about to harm you that you can pay them with something offsite. At that point, however, wired dollars are an easier sell than waiting for a gold shipment that may or may not be accompanied by Marines.)