Gold is good for private investors (and not so much for nation states)

And only as a store of value, i.e. if you are looking to earn money with it, it is definitely not the best (or even second best) choice and option. People buy gold to store their wealth in it, but you should have already acquired that wealth in the first place and not be looking to multiply it. And physical gold is definitely a long-term investment, with investment horizons possibly exceeding decades. If you want to use gold as a short-term investment (for whatever reason), you'd better look into gold derivatives as you will save yourself a lot of overhead expenses that possessing physical gold invariably involves (buying it, storing it, and then selling it)