Steve Forbes, an executive, politician and editor-in-chief of Forbes business magazine, sees signs of reinstating the gold standard across the globe, citing gold buying by central banks and cryptocurrency resurgence as indicators of the move.
“Central banks in recent years have been purchasing gold at record levels. Buyers include China, India, Russia and a number of other nations such as Poland. These countries are reacting to growing doubts about the long-term value of the dollar, which in turn is a symptom of the perceived decline of the United States,” he writes in an editorial article.
“Another sign is the popularity of cryptocurrencies, originally a high-tech [industry] cry for help in the face of increasingly unreliable fiat currencies.”
According to Forbes, the increasing public and private debt burden that exceeded $300 trillion worldwide will make the global economy prone to crises that cannot be easily extinguished. On the other hand, “monetary machinations” by BRICS are starting to shift the economic landscape. Gold is considered a safe haven asset that retains value during geopolitical and economic uncertainty.
Lastly, some countries may adopt gold standard to combat economic problems such as Zimbabwe which faces rampant hyperinflation and launched a new currency fixed to gold. According to Forbes, this move may be “a sign of things to come.”
Theodor Lisovoy, Editor in Chief, Rough&Polished
