Gold vs. "real" assets

Gold vs Real Assets

In brief: the author (a venture capitalist) believes that buying gold in any quantity is detrimental to a "real" asset like real estate in that, it does not generate any income. This is missing the forest for the trees. As is typical with a VC, he cares only for the income something generates not oh, I don't know, stability or safety. VC's are the perennial shorts. They are always looking for short revenue and especially big short revenue. The problem with real estate is that the value is based on perception far more than commodities like gold. (Some of you who own homes, or know someone who does may have noticed a slight blip in the real estate market of late) The purpose of gold is to hedge against inflation and uncertainty. Given that the euro is in freefall and the uncertainty of the US markets broadly, it would behoove anyone with real money to cash out some part of the portfolio and put it into bullion and stash it in Switzerland somewhere.

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