Gold and Flying Money

by Alasdair MacLeod Gold Money

Flying money was the Chinese term for paper credits between merchants in the Tang dynasty, adopted by Emperor Hien-Tsung as the first example of a government paper currency. Today, economists confuse flying money with real money, which is physical gold.

Having broken above the $2000 barrier, nearly everyone thinks that it is gold rising, when in fact it is the dollar falling. Yet we can be sure that as gold appears to be in a bull market, there will be growing interest in it from the financial establishment and private investors alike.

Mainstream media and the economics profession are equally clueless about the distinction between money and credit, so there is important work to be done informing investors seeking wealth preservation in these increasingly uncertain times.