Malkiel

What Is Going On With Gold?

To expand on Richmond's line of thought, which would you rather have--a currency based on real estate or a currency based on gold? Real estate is a permanent source of value--homes, land, and commercial sites are the very fabric of the country and will always be there--whereas gold's meager intrinsic value seems to be limited to jewelry and occasional industrial coatings. The current crisis contains the seeds of a brilliant solution--rather than having the country's currency be backed by the promises of a national bank based on prior performance the promises could be based on real legal ownership of the country's land and infrastructure. The idea suddenly makes me start to like the bailout better. Owning gold is just another form of fiat by commodity, owning the land and infrastructure is the most tangible form of wealth...