Eloquent Defence of Gold

Mr Buffett’s views on gold (post before}will definitely help us realize just how much money can be made in good  times from the possession of various assets like securities and farmlands.But come the hard times there is just nothing else that compares with gold.Ganesh Ratnam explains how gold has been a pretty good investment for Indians.

Gold: India’s Capital Asset through History

Mises Daily:Tuesday, October 27, 2009 by Ganesh Rathnam

India’s obsession with gold is well known around the world. To most Western commentators, this obsession seems irrational, and Indian people seem like incurable gold bugs.

However, on closer examination, gold ownership in India is neither excessive nor irrational. In fact, when religious, cultural, and historical perspectives are considered, India’s appetite for gold seems rather matter of fact indeed. Nonetheless, it is not lost on any Indian worth his or her salt that gold is the asset that best protects wealth and freedom.

When my father, a pediatric surgeon, wanted to buy land to construct his clinic and supplement his meager government income, he purchased the land by mortgaging my mother’s jewelry. Similarly, millions of people in India have capitalized their businesses or farms, or secured their basic necessities after severe business reversals, by pledging their gold jewelry. As we shall see below, were it not for gold, the average Indian’s lot through history could’ve been a lot worse.

India’s Per Capita Gold Holdings

India’s private gold ownership is difficult to determine accurately. However, several websites, such as Gold Eagle, estimate the total private gold holdings to be about 15,000 metric tons. Compared to that figure, the Indian government owns a negligible 360 metric tons of gold. Read more of this post