Huh? I don't get it. Switzerland owns gold. For whatever reason, a big bunch of it is sitting elsewhere, rather than domestically. If the referendum wins, it will be required that Helvetia repatriate all of its gold. Gold is gold is gold. Are they afraid it's being stolen? There's a lot of funny business in the financial world. But I don't understand why this is an issue. Someone explain this for me? Thanks.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/stephenpope/2014/10/25/switzerland-set-to-greedily-grab-gold/
Comments
Hope you're doing well.
There has been a lot of talk in recent years about market manipulation and counterfeit ingots but more importantly, that the amount of 'paper' gold greatly exceeds the amount of real gold. Now, keep in mind that it really doesn't matter if any of this is true or not . . . what matters is that some people believe it - and act accordingly. The Swiss, being more conservative than most, apparently have a goodly percentage of their population that are believers.
As an aside, it's believed by many that modern Switzerland was the result of the Templars fleeing France and Black Friday (Friday October 13, 1307). The Swiss at that time were individual tribes fighting the Austrians. Apparently, they got help from mounted knights in white. Note that they had already created a 'credit card' system for those traveling to the Holy Land. You deposited your money in Europe and all along the road would stop at Temples, present your receipt and receive local cash. Lastly, the Swiss Franc has the cross on the shield on its reverse.
https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR2Px2cJ9T3pxdsdgX9EeW0r8Vc4yN-idBL93BK_NGRxUMnEkXj2Q
I bet they vote to bring it home.
and so it goes,
peace,
rono
Jeez. I thought Canada had it bad off with just two.
It is very interesting stuff.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100382718
A lot of this stems from two things - 1. There have been counterfeit ingots show up here and there during audits at some of the major depositories. 2. There is the issue with the amount of paper gold to the actual amount of available physical gold. Everything is leveraged and people will make enormous paper bets in the commodities markets only to always roll them over when due. Many of the more fervent in bullion land preach that if even a small percent of contract holders took delivery, the system would crash and burn. They see it like a game of musical chairs and don't want to be left bullionless when the music stops. feh. I don't know if any of this is a problem or even true but what matter is that some peeps do and act accordingly. If there is a problem with you storing my stuff - I want my stuff back.
peace,
rono