The US is sinking ... sinking ... sinking, page-95

Cashman, there is another way of looking at the meetings in regards discussion on gold.
The CBs are such large holders, in such a small market, there needs to be some sort of coordination, otherwise the gold market would be thrashed even further. I am not arguing here the decision to sell being right or wrong, as I think you know my view on that. But if the decision is going to be to sell, as Australia did & the UK, Swiss etc, then you would actually want some sort of coordination for two main reasons.
1) you don't samsh the market &
2) so the CB as a seller actually gets what is considered a reasonable price.

The issue around the sales was that it was done at a time when economies were pretty robust & the world generally felt pretty economically stable. Growth was good & Sept 11 had happened yet.

Without being a hindsight Harry, why shouldn't have the governments have done this.
1) When times are good, that's when you put something away for the future when times aren't so good or are catastrophic. i.e. they should have been buying gold not selling it.
2) Decisions like this are generational. Governments have been making short term decisions around the election cycle for decades. No one government should have the right to make such a decision on such a scale as Australia did for instance without a much longer deliberation & if you are to sell it should be a very drawn out affair. i.e. probably over 10 years or more. Why the rush?
3) Gold in times of extreme situations is one of the few modicums of exchange that will appreciate & has no boarders. Governments should always be equipped for those sort of eventualities even if they are extremely rare.