New Arrivals

*NEW*
2012 - The Year of Living Dangerously
by James Quinn

I have long been an admirer of the book, "The Fourth Turning," by William Strauss and Neil Howe. I see it as one of the most important books of the modern era. Its accuracy in predicting the events which have unfolded since the book was written in 1997 has been uncanny. In our latest Gilded Opinion inclusion, Quinn extends Strauss and Howe's analysis to the upcoming year. Quinn emphasizes that what is occurring in the world economy today is part of an on-going, long term unravelling process predicted in "The Fourth Turning" -- a point of view I believe to be central to understanding gold's evergreen role in the contemporary investment portfolio. Quinn, by the way, projects the price of gold returning to the $1900 per ounce level in 2012. We are now five years into the 20 year Fourth Turning "Crisis" period -- a time of civic decay and global disorder -- the backdrop against which the 2012 presidential election sweepstakes will be fought. This study could not have come at a better time.

*NEW*
Gold Confiscation: Here's how it could happen - and what you can do about it
by David L. Ganz, J.D.

David L Ganz is a prominent New York City attorney who specializes in precious metals and numismatic law. His wide-ranging biography includes advising several Congressional committees and commissions, including the Annual Assay Commission, life fellowship at the prestigious American Numismatic Society, past president of the American Numismatic Association, listing in Who's Who of American Law and the Order of St. Agatha (Commander) awarded by the Republic of San Marino. He has authored over 30 books and remains highly regarded as a consultant, writer and lawyer in the field of coins and precious metals both publicly and among his peers.

*NEW*
In Gold We Trust 2011
by Ronald-Peter Stoferle, Erste Group Research

We at USAGOLD are pleased to post this 90-page report from Ronald Stoferle of the Erste Group in Vienna, Austria on gold's future prospects. In this, the fourth installment of this widely read report, Stoferle covers numerous catalysts affecting the gold market today, while predicting the price will surpass $2000 an ounce in the near future. Also discussed is gold's evolving role in the international monetary system, why gold is "still" not a bubble, and why negative real interest rates continue to provide the perfect environment for a sustained bull market in gold.

*NEW*
The Floating Dollar as a Threat to Property Rights
by Seth Lipsky

The following article is an interesting spin on how the floating fiat currency known as the dollar impacts our "right to the property that comes to us in the form of a salary or is held by us in the form of savings." The concern of course is that since the United States went off the gold standard, the float in the dollar has been, for the most part, unidirectional...down.

*NEW*
The Bedrock of Gold's Bull Rally
by Frank Holmes

Holmes gets to the nitty-gritty of what's driving this gold bull market and refutes those who claim gold is in a bubble. He expects gold to double from here ($1455 as this is written).

Hedging Inflation: Gold versus the CPI
by Jason Ruspini

It's frequently argued that gold is a great hedge against calamity... but not actually a great inflation hedge, which is how it's frequently advertised. Jason Ruspini begs to differ, pointing out that most critics of gold tend to use the elevated (and arbitrary) 1980 peak. If you pick basically any other start date but the one corresponding to gold's 1980 peak, you see something different...

The Wit and Wisdom of Cartoonist Ed Stein

Cartoonist Ed Stein is no stranger to readers of the USAGOLD website. We have featured his award-winning, widely-syndicated cartoons for a good many years. When the Rocky Mountain News, where he plied his trade since 1978, went under, Stein went freelance. The Rocky's loss became our gain.

In uncertain times, all that glisters is a gold standard
by Gillian Tett

...the logistics of embracing a new gold standard would be mind-boggling. UBS, for example, calculates that the US reserves of gold are so small, relative to its monetary base, that a price above $6,000 an ounce would be needed to reintroduce a gold standard. To implement that standard in Japan, China and the US, the price would be more than $9,000.

 

Classics/Most Visited

Money and Politics in the Land of Oz
by Quentin P. Taylor

L. Frank Baum claimed to have written The Wonderful Wizard of Oz "solely to pleasure the children" of his day, but scholars have found enough parallels between Dorothy's yellow-brick odyssey and the politics of 1890s Populism to suggest otherwise. Did Baum intend to pen a subtle political satire on monetary reform?

Gold and Economic Freedom
by Alan Greenspan

"[T]he welfare statists were quick to recognize that if they wished to retain political power, the amount of taxation had to be limited and they had to resort to programs of massive deficit spending, i.e., they had to borrow money, by issuing government bonds, to finance welfare expenditures on a large scale."

The Nightmare German Inflation
by Scientific Market Analysis

The many parallels between 1924 Germany and present-day United States are cause for concern. As this report points out, deficits lead to inflation and uncontrolled deficits lead to uncontrolled inflation. Whether or not there will be a Nightmare American Inflation remains to be seen, however, the trend is not favorable. This report points out that the survivors of the German debacle did so by purchasing gold early in the process.

Greenspan on Gold and Money
The Congressional exchanges with Ron Paul

Here we spotlight Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan's remarkable and extended dialogue with Representative Dr. Ron Paul from 1997 - 2005 during the Question and Answer sessions in hearings before the Congressional Committee on Financial Services.

Fiat Money Inflation in France
by Andrew Dickson White

The famous study on the late 1800s runaway inflation in France. White reveals toward the end of the essay how those who had the wisdom to keep their savings in gols weathered the inflationary storm.

Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds
by Charles Mackay

We bring you Charles Mackay and his Extraordinary Popular Delusions with our own sense of mission. If the rising generations now receiving their education, or even their more jaded elders, find application in their own investment philosophy, then the purpose of this Gilded Opinion entry has been served. Complicated and timelessly revealing, here you will find examples of herd behavior, delusion, mania, craftiness, and financial loss and gain.

Who Owns and Controls the Federal Reserve?
by Dr. Edward Flaherty

Is the Federal Reserve System secretly owned and covertly controlled by powerful foreign banking interests? If so, how?

Dark Vision for the World Economy
by Bernard Connolly

The circle is vicious indeed. If nothing is done to break into it, the outcome will be not just economic and financial collapse but social and political chaos. ...Inflation is likely for the reasons analysed above. And all the factors that will lead to inflation will operate through first weakening balance sheets, whether of the private sector or of the government or both. Credit worries will mushroom, increasing the attractiveness of "outside" assets such as gold.

In Gold We Trust 2010
by Ronald-Peter Stoferle, Erste Group Research

This 70-page study covers both the fundamental and technical factors which offer a "shiny outlook for existing and potential [gold] investors" and debunks seven of the most commonly cultivated myths about gold widely disseminated by its detractors.

Gresham's Law in the History of Money
by Dr. Robert A. Mundell, 1999 Nobel Laureate

Gresham's Law is not a statement about static conditions; it is a statement about dynamic process. "Good money drives out bad if they exchange for the same price" is an acceptable expression of Gresham's Law. But a better statement of it is that "Cheap money drives out dear, if they exchange for the same price." Put in this way, Gresham's Law becomes a theorem of the general law of economy, a consequence of the theory of rational economic behavior.

BIO: Nobel Laureate Robert Mundell

Mundell argues that the system broke down in the early 1970s because the U.S. rejected the idea of increasing the price of gold -- and thus made gold's relationship with the dollar untenable -- not because fixed [currency] exchange rates were wrong. In fact, had the U.S. revalued gold, the system could have sailed along for another two or three decades.

Pompous Prognostications
by Colin Seymour

Ill-advised blustery quotes from the 1929 market crash and Great Depression

The Golden Pyramid
by John Hathaway

Here is one of the first attempts to explain the relationship between paper gold and physical gold in the price discovery mechanism. (1999)

The back shelves
Archive items retired from the main index, but still of interest.

Recent (and Old) Favorites

Alf Field's LAST Elliot Wave gold price update

"I have noticed from the e-mails that I receive," says Alf Field, "that many people are using these reports to guide their ftrading activities in gold. I have had no objection to this in the past, but feel that it would be foolish to trade gold in the circumstances of the Big Kahuna crisis that we are living though at the moment."

The Scientific Tale of the Creation of Gold by Robert Krulich

Only in a supernova is it possible to create atoms with 30 protons, 40 protons, 50 protons or even 60 protons. Nature prefers even numbers for stability... Gold is a rare, odd-numbered atom with 79 protons. After the explosion, those few gold atoms are cast deep into the universe where they sit in empty space for eons...

The Dawn of a New Gold Market
A compilation of World Gold Council data and commentary

It is extremely rare for independently-minded central banks to agree to co-ordination of this magnitude on reserve management. France and Germany, who are known to have led the initiative, have the tradition and natural understanding of the intrinsic value of gold. They understand that gold is no one's liability, that it is universal and eternal. They hold a large proportion of their external reserves in gold because they believe that gold is the only thing that will ultimately secure a country's monetary independence and sovereignty.

Gold is magnificent at the museum but is no museum piece
by Chris Powell

From his speech at the American Museum of Natural History: "Your gold exhibition is magnificent, but its inevitable implication is that gold is an antique, a museum piece, a relic -- like the dinosaurs just down the hall. To the contrary -- gold is central to the world financial system even today, even as the shroud of antiquity is so painstakingly woven around it to deceive. Indeed, gold is not just central but the very center of the world financial system."

Ten Rules For Investing In Gold
by John Hathaway

Gold is a controversial, anti-establishment investment. Therefore, do not rely on conventional financial media and brokerage house commentary. In this area, such commentary is even more misleading and ill informed than usual.

International Financial Architecture
by Dr. Robert A. Mundell, 1999 Nobel Laureate

Particularly notable is that this gold-based recommendation aimed toward the EU is couched within a larger commentary in which Dr. Mundell, a founding figure for the euro system, shares his vision regarding the international monetary architecture. In his words, "My main concern today is with a permanent improvement in the international monetary system."

Little Faith, Not Much Hope and Too Much Charity
by Julian Baring

1997

Speech to the European Gold Mining Investment Forum -- "I was a bit shocked when Michele asked me to speak at this conference. Shock turned to horror when I realised that my audience had been given Hobson's choice -- listen or no lunch! I hope the invitation did not deter too many potential attendees because my views on certain aspects of the gold industry are well known and not much loved by many of you.

More Faith, Still Hope and Less Charity
by Julian Baring

1998

Speech to the European Gold Mining Investment Forum -- "You may recall that when I spoke to you last year, I urged all who have the welfare of the gold industry at heart, to redouble their efforts to hasten the transfer of gold out of the hands of those who didn't need it (like the gold-mining companies and the Central Banks) and into the hands of those who actually want to own it...."

Bernanke-ism: Fraud or Menace?
by Robert Blumen

In 2002, then-Fed Governor Benjamin Bernanke burst into our monetary consciousness with his printing press speech. His fine work earned him the honorary title "helicopter commander." While largely a background figure since then, his recent appointment to succeed Alan Greenspan as Fed chair makes this an ideal time to review Dr. Bernanke's views on monetary policy, and to speculate about what his chairmanship will bring.

The Crash of the Millennium: An Interview with Dr. Batra
by J. Taylor / Taylor Hard Money Advisors

Dr. Batra is by no means a gold bug, but in this interview he tells J. Taylor that the only long-term investment he now recommends is gold and gold shares.

ANOTHER(THOUGHTS!)

These are the enigmatic, and many believe prophetic, postings of the pseudymous "Another" many of which were first published at USAGOLD's original discussion group in the late 1990s and thereafter.