first let me say you can feel free to disagree with me about anything. I welcome it so don't hjold back.
But don't expect a differing opinion to be respected. Honestly, backpedaling is the closest I've seen you come to agreeing to disagree with someone. Welcoming different points of view for a pleasant and lively discussion is one thing, welcoming them as a challenge, because you think you can shoot them all down is something else entirely. Differing opinions should move the discussion forward, leading it in different directions. In your threads, they invariably lead to bickering back and forth over the same point until everybody gets sick of it or Andrew is forced to lock the thread. I don't see the value in that.
If you're looking to discuss ideas, you're going to have to bend a little. If you're looking to 'educate' us or convert us to your way of thinking, I can only say 'no, thanks.'
If I say that golds price is determined mainly by inflation and the value of the us dollar then produce a quote, sorry I didn't link the source it's a failrly generic explanation, saying that those are two of the factors how is that not reinforcing my point?
Because that wasn't your original point. To say that those are two of many factors is a far cry from saying "if the us governmetn (sic) could just stop spending and inflating it's currency gold would be at a more reasonable price and people would be less apt to do all this awful stuff to get it." As for the source of the quote, if you are going to cite something as proof of your position, where it's from is important, just as a general rule. Not all sources are equal, and not all of your sources have been objective in the past. If it is just common knowledge, why put it in quotes, unless you mean to give it weight? If you want it to count as anything more than your own opinion, you need to identify your source.
I don't disagree with the quote, but I do
inflation is literally the adding of more dollars to the money supply. that's the only thing that inflation is.
Was that ever questioned?
NOw, gold DEMAND can be raised when there is alot of volatility and people think the dollar is GOING to fall.
I quite agree. However, it's not what you said originally. Indeed, you downplayed the role of nervous investors driving up the demand, and thus the price. You've been pretty specific about causes.
here's an easier way of understanding it: gold buys about the same amount of stuff it always does. a carpenter got paid 20 dollars a week in 1914 or one ounce of gold. today a carpenter makes 20 or so dollars an hour or 800 dollars a week or roughly one ounce of gold. it just works out that way thugh not exactly.
Well, that was patronizing. So, is your point that the price of gold hasn't really risen at all? Are you saying that inflation is bad because, in practice, the average income is not keeping pace with the cost of things (a reasonable concern, if supported), or that the amount of money in circulation has been, overall, exceeding the rate of economic growth (again, a reasonable concern), or maybe that there should be the same amount of money in circulation as there was in 1914, in spite of nearly a century of growth? That last one would be damned silly.
I'm just not seeing the point in posting these threads. You believe debt is bad, saving is good, inflation is somehow unnatural, and government policies are largely to blame. I got that a year ago. Since then, you've basically made the same points, supported by the same arguments. And your response to disagreement is to make the same points again, but more simply, because we obviously don't understand.
What you don't seem to understand is just how offensive that can be. I think it's safe to say that the regulars on this board are generally intelligent and well-informed, and have a wide range of education and experience. You should be showing everyone a little more respect.
