Gold always has been and always will be wealth, but using it as money has been a problem. Today there are articles in the financial press that certain countries (usually small ones) are going to go on the gold standard. That means you may turn in your paper certificates for a specified amount of gold. Nixon finally killed off the U.S. gold standard in 1971. 99.9% of the public had no idea what this meant and still doesnt. As long as their paper dollars were redeemable for goods and services who cares. The Federal Reserve continues to print more and more dollar bills backed by NOTHING. Pardon me, By the full faith and integrity of the government. It is still hot air. Is there any solution to a manufacturer, producer or service company that will protect it from the continued watering down of paper currencies? Not just the U.S., but every country in the world has its printing presses working to capacity. If a manufacturer wanted to protect his sales from the depreciating currency of his country he could price his product in ounces of gold. ABC Company sells widgets and has a contract to deliver 10,000 widgets per month for the next 5 years at a fixed price of $10 each. He has a guaranteed sale of $100,000 per month, but over the next 5 years inflation will depreciate the currency a minimum of 2% annually (stated guideline of the Federal Reserve) slowly removing $2,000 per month and in the fifth year removing $10,000 per month in purchasing power. ABC decides to write the contract not in local currency (dollars, yen, euros, etc.), but in ounces of gold per unit of widget. At todays gold price of approximately $500/ounce each widget amounts to .02/ounce or 200 ounces of gold per month. The payout does not have to be in metal, but may be converted back into the local currency. No physical gold transfer takes place. There has been talk of converting oil payments to gold, but there isnt enough gold to do that for more than a few days. Imagine gold priced at 8.333 ounces per barrel? If this type of transaction becomes common place (and it might) there will be a boiler plate paragraph explaining contract settlement terms. It isnt there yet. Both the buyer and seller may be leery of this procedure as gold has no fixed price which makes it a speculation for each party. The longer term to a contract the more likely the seller will choose this idea to protect his income base. All central banks will hate it as it exposes the lie of fiat currency. As the public becomes aware of the declining value of fiat currency they will also become aware that the only real money is gold. |
