$138M??

[Thomas_muntzer]

If you were the only person on earth, or living a hermit lifestyle and found a gold nugget. What intrinsic value would it have for you? As opposed to say an ordinary rock of the same size?

While it does have some specialized intrinsic uses in electronics and as radiation shields on satellites and such. The practical uses for gold are rare. Its main value from ancient times onward is decorative and as a medium of exchange. So not really any different from a paper dollar (or digital dollar in your bank account). It is only worth what the market says it is worth.

Yes price market is that what we human decide something cost but different from paper money gold can't be created in the desk of a bureaucrat

[Ken]

Of course it has intrinsic value (To create new gold it is necessary to mine it) unless we define intrinsic value outside of human perception and in that case nothing would have value because the economy is a human creation

By that logic our paper money has intrinsic value

Yes the intrinsic value of the dollar the nuclear capacity of uncle sam

jokes aside the intrinsic value of paper money is little because they rely on the promises of the politicians

So does the price of gold.

Without a functioning modern economy its value would crash too.

[JohnH]

Precious metals have had value for a long time because they don't rust (or even tarnish unless there is pollution from coal burning in the air).

[Ken]

If you were the only person on earth, or living a hermit lifestyle and found a gold nugget. What intrinsic value would it have for you? As opposed to say an ordinary rock of the same size?

While it does have some specialized intrinsic uses in electronics and as radiation shields on satellites and such. The practical uses for gold are rare. Its main value from ancient times onward is decorative and as a medium of exchange. So not really any different from a paper dollar (or digital dollar in your bank account). It is only worth what the market says it is worth.

Yes price market is that what we human decide something cost but different from paper money gold can't be created in the desk of a bureaucrat

Dollars aren't created at the desk of a bureaucrat either. The Federal Reserve manages the money supply in a very sophisticated manner. And in a way that provides VASTLY more stability and growth than was the case when we were actually on the gold standard.

It was a little more than a century ago that populist politicians representing poor farmers said things like the following in one of the most famous political speeches in history:

There are two ideas of government. There are those who believe that, if you will only legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous, their prosperity will leak through on those below. The Democratic idea, however, has been that if you legislate to make the masses prosperous, their prosperity will find its way up through every class which rests upon them. You come to us and tell us that the great cities are in favor of the gold standard; we reply that the great cities rest upon our broad and fertile prairies. Burn down your cities and leave our farms, and your cities will spring up again as if by magic; but destroy our farms and the grass will grow in the streets of every city in the country.

Having behind us the producing masses of this nation and the world, supported by the commercial interests, the laboring interests, and the toilers everywhere, we will answer their demand for a gold standard by saying to them: "You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns; you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold."

Do some research and ask yourself why the already wealthy favored the gold standard and poor farmers did not.

[Soloist]

I was actually referring to the material our money is made from.

[JohnH]

Ken, for the record, I will be a bimetallist/Bryanist.

[Ken]

Ken, for the record, I will be a bimetallist/Bryanist.

Yeah, the Federal Reserve wasn't established until 2 decades later. The debate back then was over a tight money supply (gold standard) or looser money supply (silver standard)

The Gold Standard meant a tight money supply and crushing debt for farmers who were generally forced to borrow money to buy land or keep their operations afloat until harvests came in. And then shortages of gold reserves led to various "panics" that led to bank failures and high interest rates or the inability to borrow at all. Many of the rich got richer during the Gilded Age, but it was a mess for everyone else.

The US was bimetal (silver and gold) from the founding of the central bank up until 1873 when it switched exclusively to the gold standard which remained in effect until 1933 when it switched back to silver or both silver and gold. The US finally abandoned precious metal standards completely i 1971.

Generally speaking, a tight money supply helps those who already have money and hurts those who do not.

[JohnH]

I’m not sure I’d agree hyperinflation helps anyone.

[Judas Maccabeus]

I’m not sure I’d agree hyperinflation helps anyone.

It helps the debtor. The inflation of the early 80s effectively reduced my student loan debt (Never more than the price of a cheap car anyway) to what I could pay off in a couple of paychecks.

[JohnH]

I’m not sure I’d agree hyperinflation helps anyone.

It helps the debtor. The inflation of the early 80s effectively reduced my student loan debt (Never more than the price of a cheap car anyway) to what I could pay off in a couple of paychecks.

Doesn’t help if they have variable rate loans, like credit cards and many student loans.