Timber, perhaps gold has many intrinsic values. Perhaps the reason people flock to gold changes over time. You, a historian, should recognise this instead of trying to box gold into a rigid and one dimensional reason. In the last 100 years we saw gold as a hedge against the deflation of the 20's, we saw gold as a hedge against inflation in the 70's, we saw gold as a hedge against the US dollar in the 2010s. And, during the good times, we saw gold as an expression of opulance and wealth as well as a useful industrial metal. Even now, with our own dollar losing value, people are flocking to gold.
But why do we discuss unemployment? Because unemployment is considered when setting monetary policy, which threatens gold's relevance as a hedge against the US dollar as well as it's relevance as a hedge against inflation. You might assume that this leaves gold with nothing else to offer but it remains there for anybody who needs it for whatever reason.
