I love your work, but this post is a bit of a rambler. Conspiracies can be nuts, no question, but I think that it takes a greater leap of faith to believe that the gold market is not manipulated than to believe that it is.
Interest rates have been manipulated as a matter of policy for decades, equities are now being fairly openly manipulated through CB/sovereign wealth fund ownership and, perhaps, other methods. (After all, the wealth effect as a policy objective has been discussed fairly openly, I believe, although I can't remember the reference. And it's fascinating that the COMEX has special SPX futures pricing for central banks).
Given the routine manipulation of markets, why does the idea of manipulation of an important monetary asset like Gold seem to be met with so much skepticism, and even fury? Seems more logical to believe that it is manipulated along with the rest. (And if we don't believe Gold is an important monetary asset, why are the CBs buying?)
And don't forget the Volcker sentiment in reflecting on late 70s (no time for the reference, sorry!) was something to the effect of "the biggest mistake we made was in not controlling the price of Gold".
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Reader Question: Is Gold Manipulated?
Mish-
I love your work, but this post is a bit of a rambler. Conspiracies can be nuts, no question, but I think that it takes a greater leap of faith to believe that the gold market is not manipulated than to believe that it is.
Interest rates have been manipulated as a matter of policy for decades, equities are now being fairly openly manipulated through CB/sovereign wealth fund ownership and, perhaps, other methods. (After all, the wealth effect as a policy objective has been discussed fairly openly, I believe, although I can't remember the reference. And it's fascinating that the COMEX has special SPX futures pricing for central banks).
Given the routine manipulation of markets, why does the idea of manipulation of an important monetary asset like Gold seem to be met with so much skepticism, and even fury? Seems more logical to believe that it is manipulated along with the rest. (And if we don't believe Gold is an important monetary asset, why are the CBs buying?)
And don't forget the Volcker sentiment in reflecting on late 70s (no time for the reference, sorry!) was something to the effect of "the biggest mistake we made was in not controlling the price of Gold".
Anyway, I discuss a couple of additional point here: www.thoughtfulcynic.com/.../fighting-the-buggers-a-defense-of-gold-bugs/