Venezuela brings home gold reserves

[Safriz]

The value comes about because of an artificial demand. Like diamonds. Industrial diamonds do real work in industry, but jewelry doesn't do jack except make women feel rich.

Gold has value only because people want it. Let me put it into another perspective... zombie apocalypse time. In a desperate zombie apocalypse, let's say you have food, fresh water, fuel, and ammunition. Your neighbor has a bag of gold. His bag of gold is not going to buy your food from you, unless you are nuts.

This isn't that hard. Yes there are industrial uses for gold, as well as platinum, rhodium, and diamonds, but these are trivial compared to the world-wide artificial demand. The demand for gold existed before industry... just because people liked a shiny and scarce metal.

actually its an age oldctradition to value currency according to reservecgold.....its written on dollars? and on pakistani rs and sny currency of the wold....that if the currency note holder demands the state bank the state bank will swap the dollar bill with the amount of gold for which the dollar bill was issued ....thats why its called dollar bill?
same for any currency ....its printed asca proof that the government has same amount of gold in reserve...just a matter of standardisation and a way of evaluating currency...
not much to do with practical use of gold.

 

[Bhairava]

Thank god we Indians have always considered Gold as divine metal and have bought it/used it since time immemorial.

The amount of gold with Indian citizens (especially the ladies) can easily the surpass the rest of the world combined.

This is just the private stock, not the sovereign holdings of the Indian Govt.

 

[FairAndUnbiased]

The value comes about because of an artificial demand. Like diamonds. Industrial diamonds do real work in industry, but jewelry doesn't do jack except make women feel rich.

Gold has value only because people want it. Let me put it into another perspective... zombie apocalypse time. In a desperate zombie apocalypse, let's say you have food, fresh water, fuel, and ammunition. Your neighbor has a bag of gold. His bag of gold is not going to buy your food from you, unless you are nuts.

This isn't that hard. Yes there are industrial uses for gold, as well as platinum, rhodium, and diamonds, but these are trivial compared to the world-wide artificial demand. The demand for gold existed before industry... just because people liked a shiny and scarce metal.

However, you can trade that gold to a foreign government which will get you a plane ticket out. That's what Vietnamese boat people did, and it is what anyone would do when their fiat currency becomes toilet paper.

The USD just got printed 3 trillion in all. No one is buying t-bonds except the government. Who would be insane enough to buy t-bonds at a historical high and record low yields (interests)? China posted a trade deficiet; no buying. Japan is dumping t-bonds to finance reconstruction. Britain has its own problems. American people are forced to by pension fund managers, but how much? Only this "self buying" is artificially keeping the interest rates down. Once the debt gets to a point where the USD is mistrusted by the US, and a phase transition to hyperinflation occurs, it is game over for the US.

 

[r3alist]

The man seems to be smartly working onto something. He's seen the errors of Iran and others and moved on to avoid economic sanctions. Despite his Cold war era perspective of the world even today, this is one smart move he's made.

is it?

people like gadaffi who have tried such moves (african currency) have met with bloody deaths.

western bankers will not like this at all.

 

[T-Rex]

is it?

people like gadaffi who have tried such moves (african currency) have met with bloody deaths.

western bankers will not like this at all.

Do you think the world cares anymore what the western bankers like or dislike? In those robbers' hands the resources of the world are not safe.

 

[Vassnti]

The man seems to be smartly working onto something. He's seen the errors of Iran and others and moved on to avoid economic sanctions. Despite his Cold war era perspective of the world even today, this is one smart move he's made.

In recent weeks, oil-rich Venezuela has been suffering its first electricity cuts since the government nationalized the Caracas Electricity company a year ago. The government says the cuts are due to maintenance work and installation of new equipment, but experts say the state-run electricity company's infrastructure is crumbling.

-- For the first time, there are water shortages in the capital and key states. Chávez has blamed the shortages on "swimming pools of the rich," which he said are "siphoning off water from the poor." To save water, Chávez asked Venezuelans to take "Communist showers" of no more than three minutes.

-- According to an Oct. 28 El Nuevo Herald report, Chávez's 2010 government budget includes a more than 600% increase in the president's spending budget, which will rise to $2.2 billion. The new budget includes $264,000 for clothing, $18,500 for shoes, $145,000 for soap, shampoo and other bathroom products. At a time when Venezuela's economy will fall by about 2 percent this year and the country has Latin America's highest inflation rate, few Venezuelans find the news of Chávez's personal expenses amusing.

Yup its awfull hard to steal the gold when its in a foreign bank, if your going to buy exile in another country nothing speaks like a truck load or two of gold. Just dont trust Nigeria they will probably take the gold then send you back.

 

[FairAndUnbiased]

Yup its awfull hard to steal the gold when its in a foreign bank, if your going to buy exile in another country nothing speaks like a truck load or two of gold. Just dont trust Nigeria they will probably take the gold then send you back.

Probably US sources. Its like asking North Koreans what they think about Japan.

 

[pmukherjee]

That gold was sent as collateral against international loans, that is why they were held in foreign banks which gave the loan. Now they have been brought back since the economy has improved considerably due to oil revenues. This is the art of turning necessity into a virtue. Nothing very great about it but trust Hugo Chavez to turn this into a nationalistic popularity boosting exercise.