The irony is that gold is entirely useless in a virtual & robotic economy.
Bjartr•3h ago
Not entirely, it's used in integrated circuits. Electronics is one of the places it's actually a functional good.
measurablefunc•2h ago
It's used in trace amounts, not enough to make much of a difference in terms of volumes traded on markets.
andy99•3h ago
I didn't see the article as implying a virtual and robotic economy is why people are hedging with gold.
Unless I misunderstood, they're saying gold investing is a hedge against societal collapse, and making the observation that as tech continues it's bull run, belief that we're headed for a cyberpunk dystopia is also increasing and thus the correlation.
Interestingly there was an article a few years ago showing how bitcoin (thought by some to be a similar hedge to gold) was trading just like a tech stock. While I don't buy it, this is one possible interpretation.
If society collapses then the people w/ gold vouchers & certificates will have to figure out how to get their gold out of the vaults that are owned & operated by the people who sold them those vouchers & certificates. I don't buy the collapse narrative, I think it's fake & people are buying gold for the same reason they buy other kinds of speculative assets, they think they will be able to sell the vouchers for a higher price at a later date. Which might be true given how bad inflation is getting but that doesn't mean their dollars are going to have any better purchasing power at the newly inflated prices.
rasz•1h ago
Tell that to all the robots with ailing joints because someone forgot to use gold plated connectors in the harness.
akomtu•3h ago
Same story for bitcoin. IMO, it's a sign that the upper classes no longer believe in the US economy. As for the value of gold in the post-human AI world, if that happens, it's better to own something that AI cannot fabricate. For example, the multi-trillion value of Microsoft rests on MS Office, among other things, and MS Office is so valuable because clerks around the world need it to move spreadsheets around. But who needs those clerks in the AI world? What's the value of college education when AI can do all the work? What's the point of medical industry if the companies don't need to keep their employees healthy?
grafmax•2h ago
Sure, it’s ChatGPT and not dedollarisation as American global hegemony spectacularly crumbles.
measurablefunc•4h ago
Bjartr•3h ago
measurablefunc•2h ago
andy99•3h ago
Unless I misunderstood, they're saying gold investing is a hedge against societal collapse, and making the observation that as tech continues it's bull run, belief that we're headed for a cyberpunk dystopia is also increasing and thus the correlation.
Interestingly there was an article a few years ago showing how bitcoin (thought by some to be a similar hedge to gold) was trading just like a tech stock. While I don't buy it, this is one possible interpretation.
See https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/11/technology/bitcoin-price-...
measurablefunc•2h ago
rasz•1h ago