Read Part 1. In my last post, I discussed three myths about gold that Gary Alexander describes in a piece on Seeking Alpha. Understanding these myths is important because they deter many investors from making gold part of their financial portfolios. I’ll address four...
Gold Myths that Confuse Gold Buyers
I recently ran across an article entitled “The 12 Biggest Mistakes the Media Make When Covering Gold Markets," by Gary Alexander. It’s a good article for potential gold buyers because it debunks many of the myths that lead investors, and their financial advisors, to...
Gold in Another Stock Market Bubble
For weeks, I’ve intended to write a post on the current stock market bubble, and now, the New York Times' David Leonhardt has beaten me to it, but I'll make some additional points. Robert Shiller, a Noble prize-winning economist, is among the market analysts and...
The Inside Story of the Sacagawea Dollar, Part II
Read Part 1 The story of the Sacagawea dollar is relevant, today, not just because it’s an interesting piece of our history, but also because it’s a window into how Washington, D.C. works — and doesn't work. I’ve been around politics and government much of my career,...
Did FDR confiscate Americans’ gold in 1933?
My recent post on Fort Knox and Coin Week article continue to generate quite a few questions. Here’s one that inspired me to do a little research: Q: Is it true that the gold that was confiscated from American citizens by FDR’s government is stored at Fort Knox?...
Fort Knox follow-up: Why does the U.S. government keep gold reserves?
My recent post on Fort Knox and Coin Week article about Fort Knox generated quite a few questions. I'll answer a couple of the most interesting questions here on the blog. Q: Since we are no longer on the gold standard and like you said, Fort Knox houses such a small...
Inside Fort Knox: gold or no gold
The public image of the United States Bullion Depository at Fort Knox, Kentucky, was cemented in the 1964 movie Goldfinger. The four-story vaults of shining chrome bar-encased gold, suspended staircases and vast interior are now classic Hollywood images of what our...
The Inside Story of the Sacagawea Dollar
This post begins a series in which I give readers an insider’s view of how Washington, DC, works (and doesn’t work) from my perspective as director of the U.S. Mint. The complete story of how the Sacagawea dollar (aka, the Golden dollar) came to be has never been...
Gold: Insurance that keeps on giving
This is the second in a series of posts making the "Main Street" case for gold. Read Part I I described in my last post how gold’s core value proposition is as wealth insurance. Here I’ll address why understanding gold as wealth insurance, rather than as just another...
Gold — not just for gloom and doom anymore
Coin Week has invited me to write articles about the Mint from an insider’s point of view, and I have some stories to tell that give a flavor for what it’s like to work in Washington, DC. Coin Week has also encouraged me to make what I call a Main Street case for...
Debt Limit Resolution: As the Dust Settles
So, nothing seems to have changed as a result of the budget and debt crisis. We simply kicked the can into next year. While the GOP took a good deal of self-inflicted damage in the standoff, this was not a victory for Democrats in terms of achieving any of their budget objectives. The deep budget cuts under sequestration remain in place and will deepen with more cuts in January. All is as it was before. But at a deeper level, there are, in fact, two significant consequences of this fiasco, having to do with the impact on the GOP and on markets in general.
Gold and the Debt Crisis
In the weeks leading up to the debt crisis in 2011, gold rose $400 an ounce to hit its nominal all-time peak of $1,895. The 2011 debt crisis was the one in which we came so close to defaulting on our debts that rating agencies downgraded the nation’s credit score. But it was good for gold. As the crisis approached, gold rose spectacularly. After the crisis was resolved, it fell dramatically but retained a portion of the gain. Can we expect a similar pattern as the current debt limit standoff progresses?