BUG, you say: "the only thing that is crystal clear is that the...

BUG, you say: "the only thing that is crystal clear is that the "gold is REAL money".

I'm afraid it's not clear at all to me. In my whole life I have been shopping I have never once seen anyone buy anything with gold--have you? The only value gold has is in reference to fiat money, why else do holders salivate whenever it goes up a few fiat dollars and sink into depression whenever it goes down in fiat dollars?


According to Frederic Mishkin, who wrote a textbook on the subject (The Economics of Money, Banking, and Financial Markets. Boston: Addison Wesley) Money is "anything that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts."

In terms of this definition it is fiat money that is real money, and that is why people accept it and only that.

I acknowledge there are other possible definitions of money that include gold as a form of money, e.g. Investopedia gives 2 definitions, one of which includes gold:

"1. A commodity or asset, such as gold, an officially issued currency, coin or paper note, that can be legally exchanged for something equivalent, such as goods or services.

2. As defined by common law: a medium of exchange that is authorized or adopted by a domestic or foreign government and includes a monetary unit of account established by an intergovernmental organization or by agreement between two or more nations."

In a literal sense this is true. You can buy gold coins that can, in theory, be used as legal tender. But you never see it done. Firstly, the face value of the coin is only a fraction of what the coins cost in fiat money; secondly, the 16 year old kid at the checkout wouldn't believe it is money, let alone real money