FT’s Tett: Gold “Tangible” and “Clear”; People “Unnerved” About “Money” in “Bottomless Cyber Space”

Gillian Tett, markets and finance commentator and an Assistant Editor and former U.S. Managing Editor of the Financial Times, looked at the increasing concerns about money today and the benefits of gold in an important article on Friday.

Gillian Tett, FT Assistant Editor

The article’s introduction pointedly states

“Ordinary people are unnerved about how money works in a bottomless cyber space. Gold seems tangible, clear and timeless”

She refers to numerous examples of how finite gold is taking a more prominent place in the public consciousness as a monetary asset and as money.

She mentions the Swiss gold referendum which will take place on Sunday and how at least a very large minority of the Swiss population prefer gold-backed currency to fiat. She also mentions Rand Paul of the U.S. Republican party who favours greater use of gold as currency.

She makes some important points regarding gold being tangible and finite in a world of trillion dollar central bank experiments and a risky “ethereal” or intangible cyberspace:

“Most ordinary people have no idea what central banks are really doing, with their trillion-dollar experiments. They are unnerved about how money works in a bottomless cyber space. But the beauty of gold is that it seems tangible, clear and finite. It also seems timeless, creating an impression of permanent, intrinsic value.

Of course, this image is – ironically – also an illusion. You cannot actually do anything practical with gold (as you can, say, with a lump of coal). Its value, like that of fiat currency, depends on social convention. But culture, as Greenspan now recognises, is a very powerful thing – especially in a world of finance that is rushing more deeply into ethereal cyberspace every day.”