Gold and silver have certainly fallen out of favor with the investment class. Even though the precious metals have served as currency for 5,000 years, investors view them as highly speculative even though they are more of a safe haven than most believe. Paper currencies backed by, well, absolutely nothing have been issued for centuries but have never held value over the very long run and have always eventually declined to the intrinsic value of paper itself -- in other words, eventually it will take wheelbarrows of money to buy a loaf of bread, and that's bad for the ecosystem. While you may think I am writing this to earn extra credit from central bankers/planners and pushing the "need" for the paperless economy, as most articles so coyly propose (as though Keynesian 2.0 is beyond bubbles and yes this time it IS different); the actual intent of my ramblings are the opposite -- getting control of the money supply away from the stock market perma-bulls is precisely what the economy really needs. We have tried the artificial, computerized version of money and now it's time for the real thing. To whit, I present you with the "barbarous relic" that is hard currency, namely (you guessed it) gold and silver. Gold and silver exist, for the most part, outside of the "regulatory capture" realm of defunct economists, Wall Street lobbyists, and self interested trickle down perma-doves. Read more