The yellow metal, money for more than three millennia, has a close relationship to other forms of money. Some argue that it isn't gold that has risen in value in the last decade, as much that fiat currencies have lost value against gold. Ever since gold began its spectacular rise a decade ago, the U.S. dollar has lost over 80% of its purchasing power. The other currencies have not fared much better. The euro and the Japanese yen have lost over 70%. Gold is the only form of money that governments cannot create out of thin air which is why the supply of fiat currencies is expanding exponentially faster than gold supplies, which increase by about only 3% per year. We like to pay close attention to currencies and to the multi-front currency war because of the effect on gold.
In the "currency war," neutrality does not pay as Switzerland discovered when it recently had to set a floor rate at 1.20 franc per euro by selling francs. The Swiss currency had gained because it was considered a safe haven. Now that the luster of the franc has dimmed somewhat, gold is more attractive than ever as a choice for wealth preservation. The latest battle in this currency war is heating up between the U.S. and China and a trade war between the two most important economies in the world is certainly a cause for worry. For much of the past two years China has been under pressure from the US to allow the yuan to appreciate. For its part, China has accused the U.S. of lowering the value of the dollar by printing so much of it.