Picture, if you will, a group of slaves owned by a cruel man. Most of them are content, but one says to the others, “I will defy the Master.” While his statement would superficially appear to yearn towards freedom, it does not. It betrays that this slave, just like the others, thinks of the man who beats them as their “Master” (note the capital M). This slave does not seek freedom, but merely a small gesture of disloyalty. Of course, he will not get his liberty (but maybe a beating).
Today we do not have slavery, but we are shackled nevertheless. Savers are forced to use the government’s debt paper as if it were money. Most are content, but one says “gold will go up.” He does not expect a beating (but maybe a price suppression).
The slave cannot escape from his bondage until he stops thinking of the brute as “Master” with a capital M. Freedom does not come from a little show of resentment. So long as malcontent slaves are content to limit themselves to petty disobedience, the Master is content that his rule is absolute. Freedom first takes an act of thinking. One must see the brute for what he is.
Today’s investor cannot escape from the bondage of the Federal Reserve, until he stops thinking of the dollar as “Money” with a capital M. So long as malcontent investors are content to limit themselves to betting on the dollar-price of gold, the Federal Reserve is content that its rule is absolute. Freedom takes an act of thinking. One must see the dollar for what it is.
The slave must stop using the brute’s whip to tell him what’s good and what’s bad. The investor must stop using the Fed’s credit paper to tell him what’s up and what’s down.
We continue our hiatus from capital destruction, to treat the topic of central bank concern with the price of gold. Last week, we said:
“We have said that the central banks care no more about the price of gold than they care about the price of antique Ferraris. Next week, we will drill deeper into why.”
In light of the above, we say that the central banks care not about the price of gold any more than they care about the price of a 1955 Ferrari or a 1945 Chateau Mouton Rothschild. Stocks, real estate, antique cars, wine, and gold are just different chips in the casino. They all have the same purpose, to convert the asset buyer’s capital into the seller’s income. Central bankers call this the “wealth effect”, and it’s an important way that they attempt to increase GDP as they manage our economy.
Let’s consider the two main arguments offered to bolster the belief that a higher gold price will lead to the gold standard, and hence the end of the Fed’s power. These explain the purported motive for why the central banks want to suppress the price of gold (we have already proved that they are not).
There Isn’t Enough Gold
Have you ever been in a discussion of the gold standard, and someone blurts that, “we don’t have enough gold for a gold standard!” There is a stock retort, given so many times, that we could recite it by rote.
