Since Aug 15th, 1971...

[Pyron27]

Has anyone bought gold? I wish I had the opportunity at that time to get some for less than $50 per ounce. Keynes and the school of thought that he spurred would have us think that Austrian style economics is outdated. What if there really is no solution to the problems that both schools of thought eventually lead us to? Purists from both camps will take us to dark places over time. What is the solution? Any Ideas? Any gun toting economists out there?

[The Annoyed Man]

Gold and silver have a place in preparing yourself for a post-paper money/post-apocalyptic economy, but I wouldn't stake my entire investment portfolio in it. And whatever investment I'd make would be in small enough pieces to use in trade/barter. I remember gold at $32/oz, because the dollar was still tied to gold. In the 1960s, France under Charles De Gaul began divesting itself of dollars and exchanging them for gold bullion. In 1971, then president Nixon put a stop to the convertibility of exchanging dollars for gold bullion on the U.S. market as an attempt to prevent the depletion of the U.S. gold treasury at Fort Knox. But, this had the unintended (at least publicly so) consequence of effectively de-linking the value of the U.S. dollar from the quantity of gold at Fort Knox. Ever since then, the dollar is worth whatever the U.S. government says it's worth......even though the market usually disagrees.

The correct response would have been to simply refuse to sell France our gold in exchange for U.S. dollars, and instead force France to get rid of their dollars by buying U.S. military technology or other products.........which would have been much more Chinese in strategy. But Nixon was a fool.

[Beiruty]

If you had bought Apple share at $2-$3 per share and now you are what? A rich man.

[gringo pistolero]

I could write pages on the subject of monetary policy, but I'm concerned that political discussion would violate the new forum policy. viewtopic.php?f=94&t=69346" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Dadtodabone]

The family often rejoices in the fact that my Grandfather was a scofflaw in 1933. And one who didn't put cash in banks. Citizens who exchanged(had their property confiscated through an Executive Order) their cash for Federal Reserve Notes were compensated at the rate of $20.67 an ounce.

[Pyron27]

We are in a world that is entirely ran by fiat. I don't want to take up a camp site on the two opposing views to economics because that would mean that I would be jumping across the river too often in order to appease both points of view. I know that both systems are flawed. If we are going to move froward as a global people, what do we, as Americans have to offer? Currently, Americans export inflation.

[Vol Texan]

To quote my brother-in-law:

I figure that if it ever gets so bad that I should have invested in gold, then I probably should have invested in lead, so that's what I buy."

[OldCannon]

I guarantee you that when things get so bad that the dollar is worthless and people turn to gold and silver, I'm going to get GREAT exchange rates for the toilet paper, hygiene products, and basic medical items that I sell.

[The Annoyed Man]

To quote my brother-in-law:

I figure that if it ever gets so bad that I should have invested in gold, then I probably should have invested in lead, so that's what I buy."

Well, I've got 230 lb of that sitting in buckets on my back porch too.