walleke

If Housing Were Priced in Gold

It is the hobgoblin of practical minds that they perceive the value of gold only in terms of industry. Gold has many industrial uses but it is not used because it is too rare and too valuable to be wasted.

The value of gold is as a reserve of currency. Gold does not make a particularly good currency because it is too soft and would wear away quickly. Reserving currency in gold acts as a discipline on national and government spending. Governments do not like the gold standard since it prevents spending on favored political classes and causes - especially war!

Some argue in favor of gold as a kind of salvation against Mad Max end-of-the-world fantasies. Gold has no such value.

Neither gold nor homes are investments. Both are examples of "wealth". Art and relics are other examples of wealth. If you do not see the value of art and relics then you are an animal.

Gold has value because historically and culturally it confers status. Status determines which males have access to which females. The king sits on a throne of gold and wears a crown of gold. The alpha male wears a Rolex, not a Timex. Mankind may perish quickly if all the bread disappeared, but man cannot live by bread alone!