Tuesday
What is the best way of killing demand for Gold?
One could make buying and/or holding Gold illegal. That would kill off some transactions, but it would enhance Gold’s appeal with others. It wouldn’t kill demand, but it would alter it and could be counter-productive.
One could tax Gold transactions heavily, but that would push even more of the economy into the arms of ‘black’ traders; already a large and fast-growing section of the economy.
Legal disincentives will almost certainly be tried, but are unlikely to be effective. Respect for laws is low and falling; suspicion about the future value of currencies is rising.
It would be better to engineer a situation where people feared to buy Gold for their own reasons, not because of punitive laws.
What better reason could there be than widely disseminated media stories of fake Gold – counterfeit Gold?
Those who know Gold will be unaffected, but first time buyers would almost disappear.