Investing in Gold in the Philippines — Protect Your Money from the Discretion of Central Bankers

Ron Swanson, esteemed libertarian from the TV show Parks and Recreation, explains in one episode that he doesn't put his money in banks and instead buys gold and buries it in different locations much like a pirate would do. Although this show exaggerates his character and his principles, there is sense in what he is saying. Gold has always been regarded as a "hedge against inflation"; it's just historical fact and common knowledge. In this article we will examine the benefits of investing in gold (and how to invest easily over the internet), what inflation really is, and what influences the value of our money today.

Ron Swanson invests in gold

It would be nice to start with 1971 when the US decided to abolish the Bretton Woods system, stray away from the gold standard, and turn the dollar into "fiat currency" which ultimately means that the value of money is derived from government regulation or law. Inevitably, the dollar then became the world's reserve. No, the money in your wallet right now isn't really backed by gold as you think. Money is printed at the discretion of central bankers. It's basically an "IOU" piece of paper backed and monopolized by the State.

10-year trend of gold

With the trend on the graph above, you can only imagine the profit those who invested in gold in 2002 back when gold was less than $400 an ounce. But you see, investing your hard-earned money in gold is not really all about profit (that's just a bonus, really). Investing in gold is all about protecting your money from the discretion of central bankers. Basically, every time they increase the money supply, our money is devalued. And it is at their discretion how much to inflate and when. Even Keynesians themselves are never in exact agreement on what to do exactly with the money supply. This is why it is really left to their discretion. F.A. Hayek referred to this as the pretense of knowledge.

Take note though that this isn't a mainstream position when it comes to the economics community. Mainstream economics is still controlled by the Keynesians and is still what's indoctrinated to economics students in universities all over the world whereas positions from the Austrian School of Economics (this is the school of thought that most, if not all, libertarians advocate) are marginalized and  ignored.

I understand that "experts" (those with the pretense of knowledge, as I have said) will tend to disagree with me on this one. Who am I anyway, right? Just some random blogger from the Philippines who thinks he knows better than Ben Bernanke or Paul Krugman or many other scholars of Keynesian economics. I guess the only thing I can ask is, would you rather believe in those who didn't see the recession coming and even encouraged the housing bubble or those who predicted it and warned against it:

Proponent of Austrian School of Economics Peter Schiff Predicts Recession (even mentions investing in gold in the latter part of the video)

Going back to inflation and investing in gold, let's say you earned 1000 pesos today by giving up your time and working hard and tomorrow the central bankers decide that they want to increase the money supply. Even when you still have the 1000 peso bill in your pocket, its value has been debased. I don't really know how else to refer to this other than theft. Inflation is one of the most immoral tax of all. It's legalized theft, really. Ron Paul has a really good example to Ben Barnanke in this video:

Ron Paul schools Bernanke about competing currencies
Ron Paul shows Bernanke a silver coin and tells him that in 2006, back when Bernanke sat in position in the Federal Reserve, that coin would have been able to buy 4 gallons of gasoline yet now is able to buy 11 gallons of gasoline. "Now that's preservation of value," Ron Paul argues. So really prices aren't just rising, the value of money and its purchasing power is falling and this is all directly associated with central banking policy.
Then Bernanke argues that we are free to invest in gold or silver if we want but then what he's not responding to is that Ron Paul wants money to be backed by commodities like gold or silver. It doesn't even necessarily have to be gold, it will be dictated by the market. This is why Ron Paul has been fighting for competing currencies, an idea that, as Paul mentioned, Hayek advocated. The people will have the choice to opt out of the monopolized paper money of government and finally the market will be able to decide what truly has money. 
Ron Paul asks Bernanke if Gold is Money
In the video above, Bernanke is stomped and was forced to answer that central banks hold gold merely because of tradition when really we have already established that it is common knowledge that gold is able to preserve and even gain value. But Keynesians were indoctrinated with mythical macroeconomics and flawed history lessons that they will always stand by government's paper. And surely bureaucrats and politicians love this kind of monetary policy because they are able to print and spend endlessly with no constraint whatsoever. And because the chance for going back to the gold standard or the chance for competing currencies is very slim, the price of gold will keep on rising until central banks of the world and institutions like the Federal Reserve eventually destroys itself.

Ron Paul debates some guy about gold standard on Colbert Reports
My friend and fellow libertarian Paul How has a good article about how to easily invest in gold or silver here in the Philippines (see his article how to buy gold or silver in the Philippines). Also, another friend suggested Easy-Forex.com the other night (it's actually the conversation that inspired me to write this article right now). For most of the sites, you can just use your credit card to buy or sell gold or silver.
I'm actually meeting up with some other libertarians later and I heard someone will be giving a talk about money and banking (one of them, I think, is even doubtful of Ron Paul's sincerity or integrity which is probably the most far-fetched thing I heard but I'll keep an open mind). I do hope I am able to learn more and eventually share what I learn on this blog. At the end of it all, going to this blog religiously is probably the best investment you can ever do.

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if you liked this post then you might also like:
1. The World is Losing Faith in the Dollar 
2. Sari-Sari Store Economics
3. Keynes vs Hayek Rap