Now is the time to protect your wealth- with real money
We need to understand the difference between money and currency as one is real and the other a promise. Money can be defined as a medium of exchange and a store of value and until fairly recent times was in fact coins made out of precious metal with an intrinsic value or for ease of use, notes backed by precious metal.
Money, when considered as the fruit of many years’ industry, as the reward of labor, sweat and toil, as the widow’s dowry and children’s portion, and as the means of procuring the necessaries and alleviating the afflictions of life, and making old age a scene of rest, has something in it sacred that is not to be sported with, or trusted to the airy bubble of paper currency. Thomas Paine (1737 – 1809)
Currency is still a medium of exchange but is not a store of value as it only derives its value by government degree or “fiat”. It’s value is based on the issuing the authority’s guarantee to pay the stated (face) amount on demand, and not on any intrinsic worth or extrinsic backing. All national currencies in circulation, issued and managed by the respective central banks, are fiat currencies.
A days wages in Germany 1923
The problem is that fiat currency runs the risk of central bankers printing too much and causing large inflation or worse. The more that is printed the more the currency is debased just as the Fed is doing now with the dollar. This has been going on for decades with central banks indiscriminately creating money to cover expenditure and ever increasing debt. There are examples throughout history and in the 20th Century most of us are aware that in Germany in 1923 it would take a barrow load of Deutschmarks to buy a loaf of bread but an ounce of gold could buy a reasonable house and one dollar was worth 4 trillion marks
This irresponsible printing of money has eaten away at the value of the world’s reserve currency the USD dollar and dollar based assets, to such an extent that they have lost 82% of value since 1971, the year the US cut links with the gold standard. The GBP has fared even worse that the USD losing around 85% of value since 1971. There are many illustrations of then and now and how owning gold with intrinsic value would have more purchasing pro rata than currency. E.g the latest model Cadillac Eldorado would have taken 180 ounces of gold at $42.02 to pay the showroom price of $7,546. This same 180 ounces is now worth over $200k and would buy two Cadillac convertibles with enough left over to fuel to first service. In the UK an average family car cost £1000 around 60 oz of gold and now the same would cost £17000 around 23 oz of gold. The 60 ounces would have bought the same family car for you a sports car for your wife and a hatchback for your son or daughter. Gold retains its purchasing power year after year.
Not long ago the gold standard imposed monetary discipline on countries as they had to hold enough gold to cover the money in circulation but this all changed with the Jamaica agreement in 1971 when the decision was taken by President Nixon on the 15th August 1971 to suspend the direct convertibility of dollars into gold, the keystone of the financial system created in July 1944 (the Bretton Woods Agreement). On the 1st October 1971 the general assembly of the IMF asked the board of trustees to study and propose a comprehensive reform. This would be adopted by member States during a meeting held in Kingston (Jamaica) on the 7th and 8th January 1976, and included a set of provisions which put an end to the reign of gold. The US money supply in 1971 was $776 billion and quickly became an upward curve which rose dramatically over the last decade where the US money supply doubled from below $7 trillion to $14.3 trillion indicating that spending is out of control.
What is the effect as the US and other governments including the UK go on this spending spree. It means that the risk of sovereign debt default becomes very high indeed. We have already seen Iceland’s debt rise to 7 times GDP and then go into financial melt down and economic depression. This is a warning and recently Greece has been the sick man of the Euro world with its debt forecast to reach 130% of GDP, its credit rating cut, the country in turmoil and it has placed pressure on the Euro itself. The UK has not reached that level yet, but we are heading that way with debt estimated to be 65% of GDP this year and a forecast for 78% by 2015. Japan the world’s second largest economy has debt of twice its GDP but continues to spend. In the Euro zone Spain, Italy, Portugal former Eastern European countries all face serious financial issues.
Most worrying is that the US, whose dollar is still the world’s reserve currency, has debts of 100% of GDP and budget deficits over the next few years will send that figure soaring. Their solution instead of cutting expenditures is create more fiat currency which will inevitably lead to devaluation of the dollar. There are already moves afoot to seek alternatives lead by Russia and China and gold has featured in their strategies. China’s long term goal is to dominate financially and replace the US and they are currently playing a political game as they have up to 2 trillion in dollar assets that they do not want to destroy but off load at the best value.
It comes as no surprise that both China and Russia are increasing their gold reserves along with India who recently bough 200 tonnes from the IMF to back its financial commitments. China is now the worlds largest producer of gold and has recently surpassed India as the worlds greatest consumer and actively encourage their citizens to put part of their savings into gold. China has a predicament in that it wants its central bank to diversify into gold without increasing the gold price and to shed dollar assets without devaluing the dollar so they are building reserves from internal sources and buying small quantities during price dips. The UK made a very bad move when Gordon Brown sold off 395 tonnes of gold a decade ago when gold was at less than 25% of todays value. In light of the of the world economic situation this was doubly bad as gold reserves are more important than ever.
In summary:
- Currency is not money and its value can be changed by monetary policy makers
- Currency can be created and printed at will with no substance to support it
- Currency depreciation in value is accelerating with subsequent loss of purchasing power
- National debt is increasing to disastrous levels with threat of sovereign debt default
- Confidence in the USD is waning and its use as a reserve currency is under threat
- Countries and investors are shedding their dollar assets
- Central Banks are diversifying into gold and out of dollar assets
- Smart investors are diversifying their portfolios with a proportion of gold
- The value of gold has been consistent in retaining its purchasing power
- Gold is insurance for your wealth
- Gold is the only real money
The price of gold rose to its all time high in December 2009 to $1212 an ounce and since then it dropped to a low of $1048 but now is in a period of consolidation of just above $1100 which follows a pattern that has been consistent over the last decade. It is likely that we will face another financial crisis due irresponsible printing of currency, the risk of sovereign debt and political pressure. Of the millions of investors throughout the world only a tiny proportion see gold other than as a commodity. Central banks have seen the need to diversify into gold. The discerning investor understands that apart from ROI gold is a protection for wealth and the person who holds gold will see out a crisis and that has been proved time and again throughout history. Once a greater proportion of investors become educated in the need to diversify, as they inevitably will, the price of gold will rocket. Now is the time to protect your wealth in the safest investment – GOLD and I would recommend that you invest in the form of gold coins and in the UK gold sovereigns.
For details of the worlds most popular investment coins http://goldcoin.org/investment-coins/
Maurice Hall
Tags: China, crisis, DOLLAR, Economy, Gold, Gold coins, hyperinflation, Investment, Money, Russia, sovereign