8.28.2012

Solid gold

With gold still far below its 2011 highs but looking technically very strong, the U.S. still running deficits of 8% of GDP, and Australia looking to join the global printfest, this would be a good time to revisit Gold: do you have your share?
Estimates for all the gold ever mined in the world are around 165,000 metric tons. A metric ton is 32,150 troy ounces, meaning there are only 5.3 billion ounces out there -- or less than one for every person on the planet! Do you have your ounce?

Now assuming that most inhabitants of third-world nations don't have a lot of gold, how much gold is there per developed-world inhabitant? The OECD countries have a population of about 1.2 billion, meaning there are about 4.4 ounces per developed-world citizen. Do you have your share?
Get thee to a coin shop, my friend.

1 comment:

Doo Doo Econ said...

It looks like people are betting on QE3 by the handle on spot gold prices. I wonder if it breaks 1680 today?

Nailed it!

July 5 :