Finance & economics | Buttonwood
Precious relic
Gold remains popular, despite the doubts of economists
GOLD is the most difficult asset class to analyse. For a start, it divides opinion so sharply. Its supporters have a quasi-religious fervour, regarding the metal as the one true source of value. Its detractors (a group that includes many economists) treat it, in John Maynard Keynes’s phrase, as a “barbarous relic” that has no place in serious discussions of monetary policy.
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline "Precious relic"
More from Finance & economics
What campus protesters get wrong about divestment
Will withdrawing money hurt Israel?
Hedge funds make billions as India’s options market goes ballistic
The country’s retail investors are doing less well
Russia’s gas business will never recover from the war in Ukraine
Hopes of a Chinese rescue look increasingly vain