The Dutch central bank said Friday it is repatriating some of its gold reserves from the U.S., making it the latest central bank in Europe to address public concerns about the safety of its gold. The trend towards gold repatriation began with Hugo Chavez bringing Venezuelan gold back to Caracas in 2011. It has been followed by similar moves by other large gold owning nations and central banks, most notably, Germany. The repatriation movement has been driven by suspicion that the Federal Reserve and other central banks may have leased or sold gold it was holding on behalf of other countries to bullion banks and that this gold may have been used in order to suppress the price of gold in recent years. Demands for gold repatriation also accelerated after the Lehman collapse and during the global financial crisis due to concerns that if the U.S. and world suffered a systemic collapse or a dollar crisis, nations may find it hard to secure their gold reserves. Amazingly, the Federal Reserve’s gold holdings have not been audited in over 50 years! The last audit, and the last public visit it turns out, was in 1953, just after U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower took office. No outside experts were allowed during that audit, and the audit team tested only about 5% of gold there. So, there hasn’t been a comprehensive audit of Fort Knox in over 60 years! If it were to turn out that the US is not in possession of the gold it claims to hold on behalf of other countries, it will be forced to buy gold on the open market where supply is now extremely tight as seen in gold remaining in backwardation. Questions are also being asked about the faith of the Ukrainian gold reserves after the gold disappeared from the Ukraine’s central bank soon after the U.S. sponsored coup brought the new government to power. The Dutch clearly view gold favorably as an important monetary asset and they also have demonstrated their belief that owning gold in a secure manner is of utmost importance. Although the German Central Bank has stated that it trusts the Americans as custodians of its gold reserves – despite being denied access to vaults in New York to view their own gold – the campaign for repatriation of Germany’s gold remains strong. Whether the Swiss gold initiative passes or fails this weekend it is still worth noting that a very large minority of Swiss are very conscious of the role that gold plays particularly in times of crisis. During the reformation in Europe it was in these three countries – Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands – that independent thought flourished. Populations globally have been “dumbed down” in recent years but these nations still have a high level of public discourse and debate on the importance of prudence, saving, thrift -- and gold remains well understood by them as is the importance of a secure hold on the asset...
Posted on: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 23:31:06 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015