albatross you ignore dividends. Dividends are real returns, it is cash removed from companies for investors to do with as please - either reinvest or consume.
No comparison of a stock indices is complete unless one considers accumulated returns.
The CAGR of gold from 1915 to present day is approx 1.7% adjusted for inflation. That is the reason Doc maintains gold will return marginally above inflation in the long run - that is what gold does. Intuitively it makes sense to return marginally above inflation - it provides miners with just enough motivation to mine. I accept there is a demand of sorts for gold, it is just not that great a demand hence the poor returns comparable to companies that make things.
p.s. it took gold 26 years to reach the heights of 1980 and it still hasn't reached the heights of 2011
