The value of gold today in 1930's dollars

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James Turk, noted gold analysts, said in his latest Freemarket Gold & Money report that

"Gold today is very cheap...to compensate for its adjusted loss of purchasing power, an ounce of Gold today would have to be $416.56 just to equal the $35 price in terms of 1934-Dollars. But this price must also be increased to adjust for the debasement of the Dollar in terms of Gold that has occurred since 1934.

We can adjust for this debasement with a very simple and straightforward calculation. The Fear Index today is 1.16% compared to 14.66% in January 1934. Therefore, Gold and its use as money was effectively 12.6 times more important back then than it is today. So to reflect this relative importance today in terms of dollars multiply $416.56 times 12.6. The result is $5,248.66. In other words, if Gold today were to have the same relative importance within the monetary system as it did in 1934...Ever hear the stories from the elderly family or friends who explained how they lived through the Depression on $300 per year? In 1999 Dollars, that's approximately equal to $45,000."

If the crash comes paper will not survive.

-- Guns, Grub & Gold (The End@the World.com), July 09, 1999


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