OAfter JuliaS People don't transact in gold and therefore don't set its price. Banks do. That is their currency - that is how they call eachother's bluff. Fiat is what they have for the rest of us to play with while they do real business - selling and buying entire countries worth of assets within a span of a day. Most of the world's gold belongs to institutions - not individuals. Against other hard assets it preserves stable value, but only they are allowed to actually trade it directly. We have to jump through hoops. You want gold? Sure! Work for the bank directly or indirectly by earning a fiat denominated fiat-taxed paycheque. Trade it in for gold if you want. By the time you do, you've already enriched the bank. Play your little "I'm ourside of the system" game. When it comes time to pay rent or buy groceries, go and trade your gold in for fiat again. Surrender the margin. Enrich the bank yet again. Believe gold will make you immune from monop