NSFW Anon Archived $50 Million worth of gold bars in circulation found to be fake. Some making it as far as JPMorgan and Chase & Co's vaults. (dailymail.co.uk)
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Archived on: 11/27/2019 10:00:00 AM
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NSFW Anon Archived $50 Million worth of gold bars in circulation found to be fake. Some making it as far as JPMorgan and Chase & Co's vaults. (dailymail.co.uk)
submitted ago by 3403648?
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[–] [deleted] ago
[–] 20368273? ago
I can predict what a software program will do, before I run it, because I understand the theory of computer science. If someone doesn't understand that sort of theory, then I guess they'd have to wait for the "proof", but that's just them!
Economics is a little fuzzier, but we can still predict lots of things quite reliably if we have sound economic theory.
If you're using it as currency then you are NOT bartering. Unless you expect the other guy to use it to manufacture tooth fillings... then I suppose you could call it barter. Otherwise it's a medium of exchange, i.e. money.
At some point, you, or your children, or whoever gets a hold of it, will sell the gold. Whether exchange it for US dollars, or they "spend" it in exchange for goods, it is effectively selling. The person on the other side of that tranaction needs to consider what the gold is worth to them - what will they trade for it. What is its value to them, the buyer.
This is hard to work with. A car sold for scrap metal is a terribly analogy. Scrap is not the same product as a new car. Cars deteriorate, gold doesn't. Coins aren't scrapped, they are traded over and over again. Bars are often scrapped (re-cast) but this is small expense, nothing like the near-total depreciation of a car.
Anyway, if we try to work with this... If the car dealer were also a scrap metal buyer then you might have dealt with the same person twice. But it doesn't matter. Whether you buy it from one person and sell it to another, or you deal with the same person twice, the trade spread still occurs. The buyer and the seller, whether it's the same person or not, are competing in the marketplace whether they are selling to you or buying.
Think in terms of the market not the specific buyer or seller with whom you are interacting.
Surely you've heard the saying that a car loses half its value when you drive it off the lot. It's roughly true. If you were an honest accountant you would mark it as such on your balance sheet. You would not pretend that that depreciation doesn't happen until you dispose of the asset. That's what we're talking about here - the cost of selling should be accrued to your balance sheet when you buy, not after you sell (or spend... makes NO difference). You're kidding yourself to pretend that your bar is still worth what you paid, and not what you could sell it for.