41–50 of 91 posts
I thought all of the German gold was in the Philippines. Disclaimer: I'm currently reading Cryptonomicon. It's a history book, right?
Yes, but not of our universe. Amazing book, by the way. I would also highly recommend the whole Baroque cycle.
Otherwise, I'd read pre-Cryptonomicon Stephenson.
So here's how this works. Gold bugs are big fans of buying gold. They have lots of gold. Their narrative of the financial system is that gold is the uber-asset that all other assets must be denominated in, and that fiat currency is doomed to collapse. The massive run-up of gold prices during the financial crisis played into this narrative, and despite the fact that mainstream economists, politicians, bankers, etc. st…
It's always good to think about what evidence would convince you that the other side has a point. I lean towards the side that thinks that the central and money center banks (not faceless multinationals) are suppressing the price of gold via fractionally-reserved lending of physical gold. What would convince me that this is not the case would be a comprehensive audit of the Federal Reserve's books and gold holdings.…
What would you do then? Would you actually say "Well, I guess my belief was wrong and I was misled by the people who promoted it to me", or would you find a way to move the goalpost and say that you'll continue believing until some other complex and politically-hard-to-manage thing happens? And then another, and then another?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's always good to think about what evidence would convince you that the other side has a point. I lean towards the side that thinks that the central and money center banks (not faceless multinationals) are suppressing the price of gold via fractionally-reserved lending of physical gold. What would convince me that this is not the case would be a comprehensive audit of the Federal Reserve's books and gold holdings.…
I think a dinosaur lives in the subways under Manhattan. I would be convinced otherwise only by a full audit of all subway tunnels conducted using a dinosaur scanner (which someone will need to invent). But seriously, there are lots of things that are hard to prove wrong, but that's hardly a good reason to believe them. In your case, what motive would the Fed have? Has an employee of the Fed (or any other central ban…
I thought all of the German gold was in the Philippines. Disclaimer: I'm currently reading Cryptonomicon. It's a history book, right?
Yes, but not of our universe. Amazing book, by the way. I would also highly recommend the whole Baroque cycle.
So here's how this works. Gold bugs are big fans of buying gold. They have lots of gold. Their narrative of the financial system is that gold is the uber-asset that all other assets must be denominated in, and that fiat currency is doomed to collapse. The massive run-up of gold prices during the financial crisis played into this narrative, and despite the fact that mainstream economists, politicians, bankers, etc. st…
You mean the same bankers, economist and politicians of the bail out to big banking institutions?
You mean the same bankers, economist and politicians of the too big to fail?
the same bankers, economist and politicians that have brutally increased their wealth in the crisis while the people income has gone deep down?
You need to insult people that disagree with you, calling them "bugs".
Whenever I find myself in a conversation with a goldbug, and they complain about something like "the craziness of unbacked monetary systems" I say "I like your shirt. I will give you $500 for that shirt." (This assumes the shirt is clearly worth less than $500.) If they ask why I make such an offer, I ask if they would accept such an offer. If they suggest they would, then I ask why they would accept such an offer. I…
| All currencies are backed by our willingness to accept them...
This is true!
| ... that is the only backing that any currency ever needs
This is clearly false- just consider any currency that has experienced hyperinflation. Currencies backed by commodities are not subject to such troubles. Or consider the hidden tax of even nominal inflation caused by monetizing debt (ie, printing "mind backed" currency to pay debts). Such systems are essentially a transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich since poor people don't have access to financing/loans.
| So why would they take a fiction over a real shirt that that gives them real value?
Of course both the shirt and paper money have value, subject to supply and demand. But, the paper money tends to hold on to its value better when its backed by something more than the restraint of central banks.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not a goldbug, but I'd answer to > So why would they take a fiction over a real shirt that that gives them real value? Because they can nearly immediately exchange the $500 (fiction) into something of real value (gold).
But that would then imply that the five-hundred-dollar bill has value, because it can be exchanged reliably and easily for value. The goldbugs, as far as I know, don't favor gold because it's shiny; they favor it because it's physical and it's historically been popular in so many cultures as a medium of exchange for things of real, inherent value (food, labor, housing, etc.). I think a definition of "value" that root…
No this is IMHO no valid implication. Say, goldbugs don't believe that money is something other than fiction. But they do believe that at least for the next few days this fiction will not break down in the society: This is enough time to buy gold. But they are not sure how much longer the "illusion" will hold up (say, for a month?).
So the right question to ask (for the goldbug) is "only" what will happen earlier:
a) The money illusion breaks down? or b) I've converted the earned money into gold?
So here's how this works. Gold bugs are big fans of buying gold. They have lots of gold. Their narrative of the financial system is that gold is the uber-asset that all other assets must be denominated in, and that fiat currency is doomed to collapse. The massive run-up of gold prices during the financial crisis played into this narrative, and despite the fact that mainstream economists, politicians, bankers, etc. st…
> So now, gold prices have been weak for a few years, so they have to come up with a new narrative Not sure about the narrative you describe, but it's a clear fact that it's harder and harder to buy gold anonymously, without declaring to the State where you stash it. Makes it practical the day they come to get it back and give you worthless paper instead.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's always good to think about what evidence would convince you that the other side has a point. I lean towards the side that thinks that the central and money center banks (not faceless multinationals) are suppressing the price of gold via fractionally-reserved lending of physical gold. What would convince me that this is not the case would be a comprehensive audit of the Federal Reserve's books and gold holdings.…
I think a dinosaur lives in the subways under Manhattan. I would be convinced otherwise only by a full audit of all subway tunnels conducted using a dinosaur scanner (which someone will need to invent). But seriously, there are lots of things that are hard to prove wrong, but that's hardly a good reason to believe them. In your case, what motive would the Fed have? Has an employee of the Fed (or any other central ban…