Dear Reader, my apologies for the stunning revelation regarding the upcoming cataclysmic drop in the value of gold. I realize that my fellow gold bugs will be reaching for some form of chemical assistance to help them regain their composure after contemplating the implications of the title of my commentary. Gold bugs, I am sure, will scour my words to find evidence in my analysis that my statement is entirely incorrect. 

How many times in history has conventional wisdom been spectacularly wrong?

Sadly for gold investors my source for this horrific news is unimpeachable. It was none other than Gustavo Laframboise-Pierre, the renowned Director of Statistical Creation at the European Central Bank [ECB] who provided me with this astounding information. This insight was confirmed when Gustavo and I attended the most recent and most secret annual ‘Conference of Central Bankers’ hosted by the US Federal Reserve and held at the United States Bullion Depository  [ AKA: Fort Knox].  

Believe the “experts” at your own peril!

Before you dismiss the possibility of a radical plunge in the price for gold as the most inflammatory form of financial fear mongering, before you blindly accept the conventional wisdom that gold is a Safe-haven investment, I would urge you to consider how many times in history has conventional wisdom as shaped by our leaders, economists, bankers, analysts, pundits and experts been spectacularly wrong. Believe the “experts” at your own peril”.

Peace for our time!

To aid your journey down memory lane on the topic of conventional wisdom let me give you a sample of a Google search of the term ‘when conventional wisdom was spectacularly incorrect’:

“At this juncture, the impact on the broader economy and financial markets of the problems in the subprime market seems likely to be contained.” – Fed chairman, Ben Bernanke, Congressional testimony, March, 2007  

“The United States are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of any land.”  Herbert Hoover 1928

 “Stock prices have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau.”Irving Fisher (economist), 15th October 1929

“It is hard for us, without being flippant, to even see a scenario within any kind of realm of reason that would see us losing one dollar in any of these Credit Default Swap transactions.” Joseph Cassano (Head of Financial Products at AIG), 2007

“My good friends, for the second time in our history, a British Prime Minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honor.  I believe it is Peace for our time…Go home and get a nice quiet sleep.”  The preceding is the wording of a printed statement that Neville Chamberlain waved as he stepped off the plane on 30 September, 1938 after the Munich Conference had ended the day before:

All I ask is that you allow yourself to be open minded

Approximately 3.3 billion additional examples of wrongheaded conventional wisdom and our experts being wildly incorrect can be found via Google. All I ask is that you allow yourself to be open minded as you consider what I am about to say. Dear Reader, at this point I have no doubt that you have a number of questions such as:

Why would I, an aspiring journalist/economist with a history of drug and alcohol abuse, a rather checkered personal financial history and very spotty curriculum vitae, be allowed to be an attendee at a super-secret conference of Central Bankers?

What is the startling information that proves that the price of gold will fall lower than “a snakes belly in a wagon-rut?”

Why would the meeting be held at Fort Knox?

Let me respond to these questions in brief and at length to give credence to the sad reality that “good as gold” will be nothing more than an amusing anachronism and a cautionary tale for those who would like to believe that there are certain inalienable unequivocal unshakable truisms in the investment and financial universe.

Gold-price-to-plunge-my-remarkable-visit-to-fort-knox by David Hague