Gold is hated more than ever by both governments and the financial services community. This is because it has now become imperative to keep the illusion of confidence in sovereign debt and paper currencies. To that end, a gentleman by the name of Willem Buiter, Citigroup's chief economist, shot into the media spotlight by writing a note on the day before Thanksgiving stating his belief that gold is in a six thousand year-old bubble.
Citi's chief economist penned this “brilliant” commentary in the days just prior to the Swiss referendum on increasing the percentage of gold reserves held by its central bank. In a clear attempt to influence the gold vote, Mr. Buiter also stated on November 26th that, “The Swiss vote is ridiculous and no self-respecting central bank should ever be putting a large chunk in a single commodity.”
This hatred for gold spurs from his belief that gold has no intrinsic value. But how can one individual have the hubris to believe he can erase thousands of years of human experience and knowledge that has maintained gold's intrinsic value stems from the fact it is the perfect store of wealth?
Mr. Buiter went on to exclaim that, “Gold has become a fiat commodity or a fiat commodity currency, just as the U.S. dollar, the euro and the yen.” He continued, “The main differences between them [fiat currencies] are that gold is very costly to produce, while the production of additional paper money has an extremely low marginal cost.” So, here we have this paragon of the Wall Street and banking community saying that gold is no different from fiat currencies.
Since his body of work clearly shows he is aware of the definition of the word fiat, the only conclusion one can reach is that Mr. Buiter is being brazenly disingenuous. The word fiat means by decree or edict—from the Latin “let it be done.” In reference to currencies it means that governments and banks can create money at virtually no cost and at will. Gold is the exact opposite of a fiat currency. Mr. Buiter admits this in the very same commentary by stating gold is costly to produce.
