{"id":33397,"date":"2016-03-18T19:15:39","date_gmt":"2016-03-18T18:15:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.w-t-w.org\/en\/?p=33397"},"modified":"2016-03-19T19:42:27","modified_gmt":"2016-03-19T18:42:27","slug":"33397-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.w-t-w.org\/en\/33397-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Gold, Imperialism and US Treasuries"},"content":{"rendered":"
Stephen Mihm writes: \u00a0 Canada held 1,088 tons of gold in 1955. By 2000, it was down to 46 tons. Today, just 77 ounces\u00a0remain. This puts Canada in last place in the most up-to-date compilation of data\u00a0on gold reserves compiled by an industry group, the World Gold Council.\u00a0 In the Council rankings, Canada is now in last place, well behind Albania, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, and Papua New Guinea.<\/div>\n
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Canada\u2019s explanation for the selloff is reasonable enough: Actual bullion bars cannot be liquidated as easily as, say, government bonds.\u00a0 And over the long term, central banks and governments have generally gotten a better return by investing in safe assets such as U.S. Treasuries.<\/div>\n

The reason some countries hold on to gold may have little to do with sound fiscal policy. Instead, the practice reflects the less tangible or rational weight of history. A look at which countries own the metal — and which countries do not — presents an unexpected pattern. Countries that possess significant reserves tend to have some history as global hegemons, imperial powers or economic powerhouses — or aspirations to such status.<\/p>\n

The U.S. remains No. 1, just as it remains the world\u2019s biggest economy and the issuer of the most common reserve currency. But the pattern reaches into the distant past. The Netherlands was an imperial heavyweight in the 17th century, but it lost that status long ago.\u00a0 Nonetheless, it holds the 10th<\/sup> largest gold reserves, even though it has a population of only 17 million.<\/p>\n

Portugal, a country that once possessed an empire that stretched from Brazil to Angola to Macau, has 382 tons of gold, yet only has a population of about 11 million. The better-known imperial powers — Germany, Italy, France, Russia, and of course, the U.K., all have gold holdings in the global top 20.<\/p>\n

The trend extends beyond Europe. Japan, which sought to conquer much of the Pacific in the 20th century, and later became the world\u2019s second-largest economy, is ranked No. 9 in gold holdings. Taiwan, which became an economic powerhouse in the second half of the 20th century, is ranked 14.<\/p>\n

Canada has never harbored imperial ambitions of its own. And its policy makers have never felt a need to proclaim their greatness by accumulating piles of gold. As they would say to the rest of us who cling to this imperial relic: it\u2019s all in your head.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stephen Mihm writes: \u00a0 Canada held 1,088 tons of gold in 1955. By 2000, it was down to 46 tons. Today, just 77 ounces\u00a0remain. This puts Canada in last place in the most up-to-date compilation of data\u00a0on gold reserves compiled … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-finance"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t