Goldbuggery II

In this post, which generated some response, I linked to a few explanations of why the Gold Standard is a bad fit for our financial system. Of course, this leave the questions open as to whether our current financial system is really sound at all. A lot of people have been looking at the increase in our national debt burden and the cockeyed exchange rates and thinking "not", instead choosing to put their money in gold.

Alas, the ways for a small-investor to get screwed over is more than one:

Gold in New York plunged 2.8 percent, the biggest drop in a year, on speculation demand will slow from Japanese investors after the Tokyo Commodity Exchange increased the cost of trading the metal.

This is what in Chinese we call a "little movement" -- a seemingly innocuous change that is actually precipitated by a very definite goal in mind -- warning people off gold as a safe harbor for their money in this case.

As usual with news like this, Elaine Supkis is on the case, and she's just about the only one.