Gold Stupidity

In this video, a reporter tells the anchor that gold has moved down in part because people may be getting suspicious of the yellow metal since it isn't "backed" by anything. She then goes on to explain that US Treasuries and the dollar itself are backed by the United States government and by the industry and manufacturing efforts of the entire American people. Therefore, the US dollar and Treasuries are a good deal safer than gold (or silver, presumably).

This is an emergent subdominant social theme that has been offered elsewhere lately. Over and over, the mainstream media presents the idea that there is a flight to safety going on now, and that the beneficiary of this occurrence is the US and its bonds. Gold and silver usually go unmentioned or are merely mentioned as an afterthought. American paper is supposed to be where the action is.

The lead story in today's DB issue Depression Leaves Investors Feeling 'Like a Dog Without a Bone', deals with this issue. Financial planners and advisors are unwilling to offer gold and silver as part of a larger asset allocation program and this is depriving investors of the ability to organize their portfolios for the entire arc of the business cycle.

It is of course one thing to ignore gold and silver and quite another to imply that investors are nervous about gold (which is up near tenfold from its lowest-low about a decade ago) because the yellow metal isn't "backed by anything." Do you believe a business reporter could make such an utterance about a substance that has been a store of value for thousands of years? Watch the video and hear for yourself.