...Populism in the Oz Mythology: One is Silver and the Other’s Gold Populism is a political idea that bloomed in Kansas in the late nineteenth century, and blossomed into a political movement well into the twentieth century. The idea represents a vast amount of people who want the best, but may not have their voices heard. Populism is the act of average men and women, farmers, etc., who want more than their political structure is offering, and demand change. Those who classify themselves as populists strive for more than what is offered by current politics, and strive for the best results in their community. Farmers during the late nineteenth century were great proponents for a silver standard, a compliment to the gold standard, as an accessible way for many in the middle class to increase their personal wealth. The creation of wealth for the lower-middle and middle-class would create a greater infrastructure economically, as these land owners could create more agricultural jobs by having to hire more people to harvest their new land. Countless works within the Oz Mythology include ideas chained to populism, the most prominent at the time being the proposition for a “Silver Standard” in addition to the current Gold Standard (Hansen). Having a silver standard within the novel would have radically changed the dynamics of the Gulch family in the original novel, which would then lead on to shape the economic setting of the following works within the Oz Mythology. During a time...
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...rich at one of the many mines and rivers that were filled with gold. Men and women of all ages and races traveled hundreds to thousands of miles to get to the city of gold. The gold was first discovered by james w marshall at Sutter's mill in Coloma, California. Unfortunately for John Shutter he didn’t end up striking it rich Marshall's discovery lead to the largest mass migration of people in the US. United States citizens weren't the only people to migrate west, thousands of people from around the world fled to find the gold. More than less men and women would...
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...Disadvantages of the Gold Standard Angelina Di Mauro BUS 450 Wendy Achilles July 14, 2012 The Advantages and Disadvantages of the Gold Standard The Gold Standard is a historic monetary system in which the standard unit of account is a fixed weight of gold, and though the main benefit is that it insures a relatively low level of inflation, economies on the gold standard are less able to avoid or offset either monetary or real shocks. Gold has been known as the currency of choice throughout history, and at one point in time the country that had the most gold was known to be the wealthiest. By the eighteen hundreds many countries began to seek new ways to produce wealth through standardized transactions. As a result the gold standard was adopted as means to exchange currency in a new world market, and means to regulate the production of paper money in world economies. The following will highlight both the advantages and disadvantages of the historic gold standard monetary system. The paper will come to a conclusion with an emphasis on why many countries had to abandon this momentous means of exchange. According to one source, “the gold standard was a commitment by participating countries to fix the prices of their domestic currencies in terms of a specified amount of gold. National money and other forms of money, i.e. bank deposits and notes, were freely converted into gold at a fixed price” (Bordo, pg 1 ¶1). In a new world market the gold standard was a way to...
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...Gold bonds right solution to reduce gold imports 7 Feb, 2013, 0325 hrs IST Also, traditionally, gold jewellery is seen not as an investment tool, but more as a symbol of social status, fashion accessory and family possession. By: Jignesh Shah It is common knowledge that by tapping Indian household gold through gold bonds, the country can reduce imports of the yellow metal significantly. However, gold bonds have so far failed to fetch good response. And there are many reasons for this. Indians have a passion for holding jewellery. They do not wish to part with their ornaments. Also, traditionally, gold jewellery is seen not as an investment tool, but more as a symbol of social status, fashion accessory and family possession. Ornaments have aesthetic value too. People pay up to 10% making charges for ornaments. Even if gold is returned to a depositor redeeming her deposit certificate, she will not get ornaments in their original shape. She will only get a gold bar or coin instead of ornaments surrendered by her. If the government offers higher rate of interest, there is a chance of interest-rate arbitrage between international gold leasing rate and the interest on gold bond. Today, gold lease rate moves around 1-1.5% per annum in the international market. If the government offers an interest of 4-5% per annum on gold bonds, bullion importers may import large quantities from international suppliers on lease basis and convert the same into gold bonds. If the government...
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...Once upon a time gold was what makes the world go round, it made people greedy, hungry for more, and certainly it drove them to want more and to do crazy things for more. Gold was such a big part of life in the late 1800s through the early 1900s, and there were two main places for gold mining in America; California (there were major gold rushes in California through the mid 1900s) and Alaska, more specifically the Yukon Territory. The Alaska Gold Rush of the late 1800s was one of the major gold rushes in U.S. history. There was one main area in Alaska, where the major discoveries were made, the Klondike River, more specifically Bonanza Creek (University 1). Bonanza Creek was a tributary of the Klondike River and a hot spot for gold mining (University 1). Also, this creek was home to the first discovery of the entire rush. There were many towns during the gold rush that became modern day cities: including modern day cities such as Vancouver, Edmonton, and Seattle. The city to make the least profits during the rush was Seattle. Seattle made only over one million dollars and it was the least productive city. Seattle acquired its small scale empire by doing one thing, selling supplies to prospectors, but unfortunately for the citizens of Seattle their mayor, S.D. Wood, ditched town because he wanted to keep some of the riches for himself (Libraries 1). Vancouver, a once small Canadian town doubled its population during the rush. The most profitable city was...
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... World currencies are the most highly traded item on the global market, and gold is the most sought after and valued metal that always holds its value. Prior to 1931 gold was used as a form of back up for the value of currency. Many nations used gold as the foundation for their currency. However, now world currencies are no longer backed by gold reserves. Currencies are traded globally and now hold their strength in their trading value, yet gold is still a commodity that is traded in its own market. The gold standard was abandoned, first by Great Britain in 1931, and the United States followed suit in 1933, (2001, Lawrence). It was in the beginning of the great depression that governments believed that the gold standard was not allowing currency to be flexible with current economic conditions, thus resulting from recession to depression. In turn gold was abandon as currency value and currency was basically at face value. In the 1800’s gold and silver were the valued metals that were traded, however gold was the mainly traded because of its high value and return. Although there was no official gold standard, gold was the main source of currency back up. It was not until 1900 that gold was officially acknowledged due to the Gold Standard Act, (Moffat, 2007). To understand how gold use to value was currency Mike Moffat explains, The Encyclopedia of Economics and Liberty defines the gold standard as "a commitment by participating countries to fix the prices...
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...Crisis impact Central Banks in terms of gold purchasers? Introduction What had started in the US transmitted itself around the globe causing major uncertainly and panic, the Financial Crisis, which began in mid-2007, was the first major recession of its kind since the Great Depression of the 1930’s. Most of the developed and developing economies of the world felt the full force of it, causing major declines in financial assets, both traditional ones such as equities and newly-developed ones such as mortgage-backed securities. For two decades prior to the Global Financial Crisis, central banks around the world were net sellers of gold, however, since then, the central banks have begun to buy gold. In a video entitled Gold and silver game changer, Michael Maloney uses the 2008 and 2009 CPM Gold yearbooks to illustrate the “the biggest shift in the bull market since the 70’s”, where in 2009, central banks were expected to sell some 4 million ounces of gold; instead, when the 2009 real numbers came in, they had purchased 15 million ounces. This shift in purchasers has come about due to the distrust central banks place on the US dollar, the major currency in the world and the metal’s ability to act as a ‘safe haven’ in times of economic volatility. Golds distinctive properties and its distinction to fiat currencies make it an attractive investment for anyone’s reserve portfolio, especially during times of economic downturn. Table 1 CPM 2010 Gold yearbook Sources of data All of...
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...Old Phones are the new Gold Mines With new chemical methods, more precious gold can now be selectively extracted from old electronics. The study was recently published on Angewandte Chemie journal by German Chemical Society. Figure 1: A substantial amount of gold obtained from recycling old phones and other electonics [Credit: http://nokiarevolution.com] With rapid revolutions in technology in this digital age, people are quick to change their phones to the latest handsets. But few people realise that recycling their old phones is imperative, and the shocking potential benefits it may bring. A recent study has found a surprising new way to extract the maximum amount of gold from old Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE)---using...
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...“HOLD YOUR POCKET OPEN” Inc., or The small recipe for the GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS WHAT’S THE PROBLEM? (No brainwashing ) The Triffin dilemma (or the Triffin paradox) is a theory that when a national currency also serves as an international reserve currency, there could be conflicts of interest between short-term domestic and long-term international economic objectives. This dilemma was first identified by Belgian-American economist Robert Triffin in the 1960s, who pointed out that the country whose currency foreign nations wish to hold (the global reserve currency) must be willing to supply the world with an extra supply of its currency to fulfill world demand for this 'reserve' currency (foreign exchange reserves) and thus cause a trade deficit. The use of a national currency (i.e. the U.S. dollar) as global reserve currency leads to a tension between national monetary policy and global monetary policy. This is reflected in fundamental imbalances in the balance of payments, specifically the current account: some goals require an overall flow of dollars out of the United States, while others require an overall flow of dollars in to the United States. The Triffin dilemma is usually used to articulate the problems with the U.S. dollar's role as the reserve currency under the Bretton Woods system, or more generally of using any national currency as an international reserve currency. There was a solution to the Triffin dilemma for the U.S.: reduce the number of dollars in circulation...
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...worst over its time and many times events have been the main thing that has changed and one of the most important events in American history is the California Gold Rush which had changed the different races that lived there and changed the way ‘White Americans’ saw foreign people. The gold rush of 1849 was in Sacramento Valley, California. James W. Marshall found flakes of gold when he was trying to build a water-powered sawmill, he was the first one to go there and he got most of the gold. One newspaper was reporting that large quantities of gold were being turned up at Sutter’s Mill some of the people came to california by boat all the way from Chile, Mexico, and China everyone tried to get their share of it. Miners extracted more than 750,000 pounds of gold during the rush. A total of $2 billion worth of gold was extracted from the area during the Gold Rush. A lot of people put down their life savings and made the journey all the way to California. Just days after the great discovery they found out that the treaty of Guadalupe was signed and ending the Mexican- American war. When the war with Mexico ended the goldfields were lawless so...
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...Virtual No one central physical location that is the foreign currency market Exists in the dealing rooms of various central banks and large international banks and corporations. The dealing rooms are connected via telephone and computers The foreign exchange market assists international trade and investment by enabling currency conversion. Exchange Rates Trading on the Foreign Exchange Market establishes rates of exchange for currency Exchange rates are constantly fluctuating on the forex market as demand rises and falls for particular currencies, their exchange rates adjust accordingly Instantaneous rate quotes are available from a service provided by Reuters Gold Standards A monetary system in which a country's government allows its currency unit to be freely converted into fixed amounts of gold and vice versa. The exchange rate is determined by the economic difference for an ounce of gold between two currencies It was premised on three basic ideas: A system of fixed rates of exchange existed between participating countries Money issued by member countries had to be backed by gold reserves Gold acted as an automatic adjustment The Fall of Gold Standards With the Great War the gold supply continued to fall behind the growth of the global economy The British pound sterling and U.S. dollar became the global reserve currencies Smaller countries began holding more of these currencies instead of gold. The result...
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...You can invest in gold through E-Gold, Gold mutual funds, Gold ETFs or gold bars and coins. Not to forget, many Indians buy gold jewelry that they will never use considering them as investment. Each of these has their own merits and demerits. * E-Gold Pros: 1. No recurring charges like expense ratio of mutual funds, ETFs involved. 2. Units as small as 1 gram can be redeemed for physical gold. 3. Greater price transparency. Cons: 1. Separate trading account and demat account needed for trading in e-gold. 2. Not the best way to invest in terms of tax. It treated as physical gold for taxation. 3. Newly launched product in India. Commodity exchanges are not well regulated like stock exchanges. * Gold ETFs Pros 1. Units are backed by corresponding units of physical gold which are kept in secured vaults. 2. Returns close to that of e-gold. 3. Long term capital gains tax of 10% without indexation or 20% with indexation kicks in after 1 year. No wealth tax applies. Cons: 1. Trading account and demat account needed for buying ETFs. * Gold mutual fund Pros 1. Through Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) of gold mutual funds one can affordably have disciplined investment in gold. One can invest as little as Rs 100 every month in gold funds. 2. Long term capital gains tax of 10% without indexation or 20% with indexation applies after 1 year. No wealth tax applies. Cons 1. Expense ratio is higher than in gold ETFs. 2. Returns slightly lower than that of gold ETFs depending...
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...Brief History of the Gold Standard in the United States Craig K. Elwell Specialist in Macroeconomic Policy June 23, 2011 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov R41887 CRS Report for Congress Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Brief History of the Gold Standard in the United States Summary The U.S. monetary system is based on paper money backed by the full faith and credit of the federal government. The currency is neither valued in, backed by, nor officially convertible into gold or silver. Through much of its history, however, the United States was on a metallic standard of one sort or another. On occasion, there are calls for Congress to return to such a system. Such calls are usually accompanied by claims that gold or silver backing has provided considerable economic benefits in the past. This report briefly reviews the history of the gold standard in the United States. It is intended to clarify the dates during which the standard was used, the type of gold standard in operation at the various times, and the statutory changes used to alter the standard and eventually end it. It is not a discussion of the merits of such a system. The United States began with a bimetallic standard in which the dollar was defined in terms of both gold or silver at weights and fineness such that gold and silver were set in value to each other at a ratio of 15 to 1. Because world markets valued them at a 15½ to 1 ratio, much of the gold left the country and...
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...GOLD DINAR - USING BILATERAL PAYMENT ARRANGEMENT OR ELECTRONIC PAYMENT SYSTEM1 WRITTEN BY: NURADLI RIDZWAN SHAH BIN MOHD DALI nuradli@kms.uniten.edu.my BAKHTIAR ALRAZI HANIFAH ABDUL HAMID UNIVERSITI TENAGA NASIONAL ABSTRACT2 The Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad first expressed interest in a universal currency that could help unite Muslim countries after attending the OIC summit in Doha, Qatar in November 2000. This led to an international conference entitled "Stable and Just Global Monetary System - The Islamic Dinar" organized by the International Islamic University in August 2002. After much research and consultation, a gold-based currency, called the ‘gold Dinar’, was put forth as a viable solution, and was expected to be implemented in 2003. This paper is an extension of the previous paper entitled "The Implementation of Gold Dinar. Is it the End of Speculative Measures?" published in the Journal of Economic Cooperation, SESRTCIC, Turkey volume 23, 2003. No 3. Keyword: Gold Dinar, Bilateral Payment Arrangement, Electronic Gold Payment System Introduction Several seminars and conferences were held in matters pertaining to gold Dinar in order to create the awareness of the government’s agencies, public and private sectors on the return of the gold Dinar as an international payment system. The seminars and conferences are also intended to find the best system or mechanism to ensure that the implementation of such system would not affect one’s economy...
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...old Price Forecast 2013 Predictions and Estimates from Multiple Analysts The Gold price forecast for the year 2013 has been covered by multiple analysts. Here is their consensus: While the price of Gold has a gamut of forecast ranges for 2013, most experts remain bullish on the yellow metal for the year, though some have scaled back their estimates slightly over the past few months. A compilation of their predictions are listed below. Bank of America Merrill Lynch In a December 2012 report, Bank of America Merrill Lynch stated that Gold would average $2,000 in 2013, with the metal climbing to $2,400 in 2014. “Large-scale policy easing by the U.S. Federal Reserve and European Central Bank positions Gold as a useful hedge against global macro and inflation risks taking the commodity to $2000/ oz levels”, said the bank. The bank added that, “We have a sixmonth [Gold price] target of $2000 an ounce, but see scope as well for prices to rise to $2400 an ounce by the end of 2014. These targets reflect our view that the Fed will maintain mortgage purchases until the end of 2014 and will move to buy Treasuries following the end of Operation Twist in December 2012.” BNP Paribas BNP Paribas expects Gold to average $1,865 an ounce for the year. “Market sentiment towards Gold has been much more uncertain in 2012 than was the case in previous years. Yet, we expect Gold to achieve a new record high in 2013 due to further monetary easing, less tail risk related to a breakup of the euro...
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