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View Full Version : Martin Armstong - Answering Your Questions: Will Gold be Confiscated? 11-22-2011




ctiger2
11-22-2011, 12:27 PM
Will Gold be Confiscated 11-22-2011 (http://www.martinarmstrong.org/files/Will%20Gold%20be%20Confiscated%2011-22-2011.pdf)

http://www.martinarmstrong.org/economic_projections.htm

Zippyjuan
11-22-2011, 11:46 PM
WHY would the government confiscate gold? The last time it happened, money was backed by gold and the government was in danger of running out. Money is no longer backed by gold so it does not matter how much they have (and they still have quite a bit- they claim to have 8,133 tonnes which is roughly five percent of all the gold ever refined in the entire world. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_reserve

Steven Douglas
11-23-2011, 12:51 AM
Here is an excerpt of what I wrote on this subject in another forum (http://www.pmbug.com/forum/f13/gold-silver-ratio-what-should-213/#post1139), where the question was asked about the best ratio of gold/silver to own.


I could be wrong, of course, but I think that silver is the new gold - for private commerce. And I think that is deliberate, based on the rational (but seemingly irrational) art collector who publicly destroys all but a few of some more or less rare, but still relatively numerous pieces of art. Looks like a perfect plan for an end around sneak to me. If silver is not the "new gold", I cannot see how it will not be strong enough to give gold a serious run for its value. The relative value of the physical based on its scarcity will never lie or fail once it is finally known.

I don't even care that much about gold, to be honest. While China and others acquire as much gold as they can amass, and everyone is predicting a return to "gold backed currencies", many also delude themselves into thinking that this somehow means that fiat paper will be redeemable for gold by ordinary people. FAT CHANCE. In fact, I feel fairly certain that the chances of that happening are pretty much NIL. With history as my guide, I can EASILY envision a scenario where history repeats (for the sake of you-name-it) and gold is confiscated once again, shortly down the road - as the exclusive plaything of the gods - sovereign governments only, as they formulate a Bretton-Woods II, but retain the Rooseveltian attitude that gold should be "kept out of the hands of private hoarders who will only screw things up". Long after Roosevelt confiscated private wealth in the form of gold from Americans, silver was left in circulation and remained redeemable, even as gold was still maintained as a check on other governments, to manage their own fiat Ponzi schemes within their own sandboxes. That was a trial run that worked for a time, and the ONLY purpose of gold in their minds. They will all want a crack at that one again I am sure.

I do not see any of this happening with silver, although I could be wrong there as well - which could make silver the "plaything of commerce" - within each sandbox.


Martin Armstrong has a decidedly different (but equally plausible) prediction:


“1) What is the likelihood of governments confiscating the private ownership of gold - as was previously done in the US - thus forcing citizens to hold debased currencies and forcing down the price of gold?;”

Answer: Government will NEVER return to a gold standard. That is simply off the table. Any confiscation of gold will not be to create a monetary system, but to simply grab wealth to fill the pockets of the bankers.

“2) What's the likelihood of the Europeans selling down their gold holdings to reduce their budget deficits?”

Answer: Very high. Since there is no intention of returning to a gold standard, which would remove government power amount to a financial revolution, there is no love loss regarding gold. Everything will go to keep the power.


The reason I don't believe this at all stems from what I wrote above: Governments don't trust each other, and with better reason than ever. However, the ONLY reason they don't want a national currency that is directly backed (directly redeemable) by gold is because it really does keep their own power in check against what they already know is a weaker, more ignorant power (the citizenry). But government to government, that's a different story altogether. They will ALL want a natural check and balance against each other, and gold is a perfect medium for that.

And the reason they'll confiscate it: they get to promote the illusion of gold-backing to the citizenry without the redeemability (think Roosevelt until Nixon), while holding other governments in check as full redeemability is insisted upon between governments.