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You are listening to the Informal investigation podcast This is the podcast where we investigate, experience, and share interesting finds My name is Asher and lets begin ::Music:: The informal investigation podcast is for entertainment purposes only. We are not responsible if you mess up. You should always do your own homework. If you try anything mentioned on this podcast you are doing so at your own risk. The views presented on this podcast are solely those of the speakers and do not represent any affiliated or unaffiliated organizations. Today we are opening an informal investigation into Gold If you like what you hear on this podcast please subscribe to us on your podcast listening app of choice to be notified about all of our latest episodes. Also links to resources mentioned in this episode can be found in the show notes at informalinvestigation.com. At the time this podcast is being recorded it is 2020 and the VID is upon us. That is the COVID19 pandemic. Gold prices have soared to around $2000 an ounce. This should not be a surprise. It is during times of crisis that gold prices rise. People still turn to gold when uncertain about their nation's currency. In my mind, the price of gold going up is a harbinger of badness. Gold is element number 79, labeled Au, in group 11, period 6 on the periodic table. Aside for being shiny and having some industrial uses gold gets its value from being currency In order to understand how the element with the atomic number 79 gained its relative significance, we need to first understand currency. ::music:: The journey started when I picked up the book https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BPM3GZQ/ref=as_sl_pc_as_ss_li_til?tag=iipodcast-20&linkCode=w00&linkId=b9c911fa66444f57280fc216009347a7&creativeASIN=B07BPM3GZQ (“The bitcoin standard” by Saifedean Ammous) - Apologies for butchering his name. At the time, I was interested in bitcoin - but that is going to be a discussion for another time. He starts his book explaining primitive moneys and monetary metals. The first couple chapters completely changed the way I look at money. The purpose of money is “to move economic value over time and space” The most primitive way this is done is with barter or the direct exchange of goods. You want a loaf of bread and I want a dozen eggs so let's trade - easy rite? This works great but only on a small scale. However in a larger economy people start to specialize. They become more efficient at making specific products. Because of this specialization many more products come to market. This is good but also creates some obvious trade problems: coincidence of wants - I want what you got but you don’t want what I got - You want a case of my pumpkin beer for your party tonight. However, you make cars and I already have one. What do we do now? How do you pay me for the beer so your party isn’t a total bust? Coincidence of scales - What this means is lets say I do want that car you make and you want a case of beer that I make. Are you going to trade me 1/1000 of a car for my case of beer? Or do I need to give you 1000 cases of beer for a car. Not very practical. Coincidence of time - Let's say we agreed on 1000 cases of beer for one car. However I need the car now and your ragger isn't scheduled till next year. Coincidence of location - How are we supposed to exchange your car for my 1000 cases of beer if you make your cars in china If your curious about all these pumpkin beer references, make sure to listen to our previous episode where we investigate pumpkin beer. The solution to these issues is to have a medium of exchange A middle man so to say, an item that can hold value that you can give me for the case of beer that I can use whenever I want to acquire whatever I want - AKA money What qualifications...