Repatriation of German gold ahead of schedule

Getting?!?!? Where have YOU been?

 

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Let's try focusing on coins again. Or on gold bars maybe.

Christian

 

Okay - https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/3291710/tank-collector-two-million-gold-bullion-military-vehicle/

 

Fun story. And what lesson do we learn from that? Collect tanks, not coins ...

Christian

 

If you believe everything in the Sun I have a copy of the National Enquirer I will trade you for an ounce of gold.

 

... says the man who believes what he reads on goldbug sites.

 

Can this post be nominated for post of the year ?

 

Not really. You didn't say much. Or were you referring to someone else's post?

 

sakata has me on ignore, the root word of ignorant.

 

Wait, how can it be ahead of schedule when all those metal pushers told me that the U.S. Fed doesn't even have any gold to give back??

 

Perhaps they bought it on the open market and that is why the price is going up.
(Just speculation. I don't want goldcollector attacking me for making a false claim.)

 

It's my educated guess, and you're welcome to call me a liar if you like. If you step back from the political minutia and rhetoric, there's sufficient evidence to back the possibility.

But I am one that called Brexit before it happened - and warned against listening to the media. So maybe my read on the world isn't too far off.

 

As I wrote before, this is not a political debate, but you can of course believe or wish what you want. In theory I would, as a moderator, lock the topic as it has become too political. But I did post, as a regular member, here too - so taking any "mod" action would be bad style or worse. Let's just stay on topic ...

Christian

 

Bottom line: if Germany owns it, and wants it within its borders, then they should have it. I suspect that with Brexit, the future of Frankfurt as the number one financial center of the EU is at least an arguable proposition. They may someday soon challenge both New York and London in the "where does it make the most sense to have this market" sweepstakes.

 

If they're a net importer, they often do.

 

Well, there are other places too. Recently for example the question has come up where the European Banking Authority should be in the future. Since the EBA is an EU agency, its current seat (London) will not be an option any more once the UK has left the EU. Of course the German government would like to have it in Frankfurt. Of course the French government would like to have it in Paris. Of course the ... etc. etc.

Christian

 

Okay, my one college Econ class was at 8AM, so I didn't get as much out of it as I otherwise might have.

Is the implicit assumption here that most jobs come from producing things (or services) to export?

 

No, when a nation's currency increases in value, it makes their products more expensive in world markets and makes imports cheaper at home. When a home country's currency declines in value, its products become cheaper abroad, helping domestic production, and therefore employment.

Right now and in the intermediate term, keeping employment going is far and away the bigger problem than any rich guy's "store of value". The very concept of "employment" is facing a potentially radical change unprecedented in world history.

An agrarian or even an industrial society could manage to operate under "hard currency". It's not at all clear whether a thoroughly knowledge-based economy, with full penetration of Artificial Intelligence, can operate at all without radical changes in economic theory. The one thing we DO know is yesterday's answers will NOT work.

 

Kurt's completely correct that a strong currency makes imports cheaper. That was my point and what I believe is a good thing. However, it seems he thinks it's a bad thing for that to happen because it will lead that same country's exports to be expensive. Why do you think that's a bad thing if the country's GDP is primarily derived from domestic consumption?

If a country is a strong net importer, exports matter less. Cheap imports can drive massive domestic consumption and employment. For instance, if the dollar is strong, steel imports are cheaper. Cheaper steel imports lead to more domestic construction jobs and downstream employment. Same for imports of shoes, iphones, etc. (jobs in design, transportation, sales, maintenance of said products, etc.).

Of course, a country would never want their currency to be too weak or too strong. It's all a balancing act of managing what leads to the highest employment and wealth in our example country. What do you think, Kurt?

 

I have a solution, Luxembourg Ville. That way neither of the two Euro powerhouses get the EBA.