Gold

DocBrain did some googling and arithmetic and came up with these amazing facts.

1910 2005 2010

World Population (in billions) 1.75 6.512

Total troy oz gold in world 1.33 5.3

oz gold per person 0.76 0.814

Dollar value of 1 oz gold 21 444.75 1362

Dollar value of world's gold (in billions) 27.93 2357.18 7218.60

Total US money supply (in billions) 13.31 6674.1

Value of gold as percent of money supply 210 35

The total amount of gold in the world is 4 times what it was in 1910, but the dollar value of that gold was 84 times greater in 2005 and 260 times greater in 2010.

The dollar value of each oz was 21 times more in 2005 and 65 times more in 2010. So, gold is not any rarer than it was in 1910 (oz/person is about the same) but has escalated against the dollar, indicating a depreciation in the buying power of one dollar.

While some would claim that gold is passe as a standard for determining the value of money and others claim that gold is speculated and is actually worth a lot fewer dollars than its selling price, facts are facts. So, is gold undervalued or overvalued? One thing is certain. There is more wealth in terms of dollars and in terms of purchasing power now as compared to 1910. For those who believe that wealth is a zero sum game, this is proof positive of the fallacy of that premise.