Under the current US dollar system, USD used to backed by gold, and other countries use USD to back their own currencies. That's why central banks in the world hold US treasury bonds as reserve, they used to own gold as reserve.
The US severed the gold standard in 1971, therefore the whole world is running a fiat paper system first time in human history. 2012-1971 is less than 41 years, 42 years is a false statement I have to admit.
It's not about we do not have enough gold for global trading, it's about the gold price. You can print 10 trillion paper notes and back by 10 tons of gold, or print 10 million and back by 10 tons of gold.
We do not have to have inflation, ever wonder why a house cost 10k in 1971 and is worth 800k now?
We had 0% inflation from late 19 century to early 20 century, because there was a gold standard.
The thing is the current system is hitting the wall, we will have a new world monetary to replace the current petrodollar standard. It's very likely to tie back to gold, it is the only way to to gain public confidence.
Ever wonder why the US keep invading middle east and wanting to control the world oil supply? The US dollar is backed by petroleum, they force the world to buy oil in USD therefore there is always a demand for US dollar.
Ever wonder why Saddam Hussein and Gaddafi got killed? They wanted to trade oil in other currency rather than USD.
Well, I do not want to talk about gold in this thread anymore, it's not relevant. Stop digging out gold topic Mr. Kidmad please.
lol..i bet both camps have got their points..so ill be aiming for a balanced portfolio..just in case..