Le pepite d'oro al posto della carta di credito

Nello stato dello Utah è ora possibile andare a fare shopping e pagare direttamente in oro o in argento! Sarà contento Zio Paperone! La settimana scorsa è stata approvata una legge che rende legale l'impiego nei pagamenti dei due metalli preziosi al posto delle banconote, considerati un bene rifugio sia dai rischi di inflazione che da quelli di collasso del sistema finanziario dovuti a deflazione e rischio sistemico:
In the short run, gold can be a safe haven in a time of crisis. We don't know what the next crisis will be, but we have seen plenty of "black swan" events over the past two years alone; our markets and our world seem increasingly hard-wired to experience periods of crisis and calm. In this sense, gold can be seen as a short-term hedge, or a short-term speculative play on volatility.
Some may say that we're heading for a period of stability, but that's hard to believe. The Fed is desperately trying to stimulate the economy. Housing prices remain weak. Unemployment remains high. On the political side, the Middle East has been far from stable in recent weeks. We have learned from the past three years that events can move extremely quickly in our increasingly interconnected world. Stability will be more and more fleeting—perhaps permanently.
In the longer term, gold is a good way to invest in expectation of higher inflation—a growing possibility. As governments battle debt problems and central banks intervene on their behalf, we could very well see deliberate weakening of currencies in many developed countries. Why use gold, rather than some other inflation hedge? Simplicity. Gold can be easily held in most portfolios...
Apparentemente la legge introdotta in Utah non è il preludio a un ritorno allo standard aureo per la valuta USA:

...the Utah State Representative Brad Galvez who introduced the bill in protest of the Fed's monetary policy. "We're too far down the road to go back to the gold standard," Galvez said. "This will move us toward an alternative currency."

Utah is not alone in this desire for an alternative to the weakening U.S. dollar. There are about nine other states considering similar laws, including North Carolina and Idaho.

Attenzione però: per il momento la legge non obbliga i negozianti ad accettare pepite d'oro o d'argento come forma di pagamento: bisogna almeno lasciare il tempo perchè si attrezzino con le bilance di precisione e con altri strumenti per verificarne il titolo. Altrimenti si ricomincia con il quantitative easing vecchio stile, in cui semplicemente si limavano le monete oppure si impiegavano leghe sempre più povere d'oro. Qui sotto un video sulla legge introdotta nello Utah