FreedomProsperityPeace
06-28-2011, 04:46 PM
Ron Paul Reality Check: Should America Sell Fort Knox's Gold?
Time.com – Tue, Jun 28, 2011
Should the U.S. sell off its gold reserves to pay down debt? That's the latest idea being tossed around by gold bug Ron Paul. Not only would selling Old Yeller help the U.S. pay its bills, says libertarian Paul, but it would put more gold in the hands of the American people and pull back the reins on the Federal Reserve, which is printing money like mad and debasing the value of our currency. So insistent is Paul about this strategy that he challenged the government to a gold audit to make sure its stash of bullion at Fort Knox is really all there. (According to the Treasury's inspector general, it is.) So is selling it a good strategy, or is Paul just a crazy kook?
...
But if, like Paul, you believe paper currency is doomed, then the price of gold is surely still headed up. And in this market, selling off the government's gold wouldn't get you very far. The Treasury's roughly 262 million ounces of bullion is worth about $390 billion. That's only a fraction of our $1.5 trillion deficit and an even smaller slice of our $14 trillion in federal debt. (See 25 people to blame for the financial crisis.)
And there are plenty of other reasons for the U.S. not to sell its gold. As with any investor, a dose of gold in the U.S.'s portfolio serves as a worst-case inflation hedge. Plus, the price of gold is historically very volatile - up 10% one month, down 10% the next - which is why governments don't go buying and selling it off on a whim. If the world's most successful investors think holding onto their gold is a good idea in this economy, the U.S. government should probably do the same.
http://news.yahoo.com/ron-paul-reality-check-america-sell-fort-knoxs-125606961.html
Dang it...I misspelled magazine toady
Time.com – Tue, Jun 28, 2011
Should the U.S. sell off its gold reserves to pay down debt? That's the latest idea being tossed around by gold bug Ron Paul. Not only would selling Old Yeller help the U.S. pay its bills, says libertarian Paul, but it would put more gold in the hands of the American people and pull back the reins on the Federal Reserve, which is printing money like mad and debasing the value of our currency. So insistent is Paul about this strategy that he challenged the government to a gold audit to make sure its stash of bullion at Fort Knox is really all there. (According to the Treasury's inspector general, it is.) So is selling it a good strategy, or is Paul just a crazy kook?
...
But if, like Paul, you believe paper currency is doomed, then the price of gold is surely still headed up. And in this market, selling off the government's gold wouldn't get you very far. The Treasury's roughly 262 million ounces of bullion is worth about $390 billion. That's only a fraction of our $1.5 trillion deficit and an even smaller slice of our $14 trillion in federal debt. (See 25 people to blame for the financial crisis.)
And there are plenty of other reasons for the U.S. not to sell its gold. As with any investor, a dose of gold in the U.S.'s portfolio serves as a worst-case inflation hedge. Plus, the price of gold is historically very volatile - up 10% one month, down 10% the next - which is why governments don't go buying and selling it off on a whim. If the world's most successful investors think holding onto their gold is a good idea in this economy, the U.S. government should probably do the same.
http://news.yahoo.com/ron-paul-reality-check-america-sell-fort-knoxs-125606961.html
Dang it...I misspelled magazine toady