Quote from: MatthewLM on September 13, 2011, 03:06:27 PM

I don't see what it's used for and how it works. A debit card system will work using particular currencies. If you want to plug in different currencies you'd need to exchange the currency to that which is required by the debit system before or after the transaction.

OT provides exactly the kind of framework necessary to allow transparent transactions among different types of instruments. The overall structure it promotes is basically a flexible market for everything.

If you wanted, you could trade umlaut posters for Swaziland textiles almost as easily as you can exchange EUR for USD today. The same mechanism would make BTC payment feasible for anything else.

Complete abstraction of financial associations is the result, or securitization of everything.

Quote from: netrin on September 13, 2011, 05:22:06 PM

Does anyone know a web resource when I can see historical gold prices on a log scale? Ideally as a dynamic image rather than a Java applet.

What kind of range? Only Gold has annual closing prices since 1792, but you'd have to produce the chart yourself. That shouldn't be too difficult with current spreadsheet software, even for online versions. I did it myself with Kitco London PM fix data going back to the late 90s. That gold chart is a Google Docs Spreadsheet with numerous limitations, including lack of log scale. I really should add 2011 data as well.

The Privateer has some good charts as well. Stockcharts also offers an extensive amount of data and charting analysis on a subscription basis. An alternative would be to open a Think or Swim paper trading account and use their charting software, but that might be limited to a few years as well. There are others that I've come across, but I'm not sure of any other dynamic gold charts offhand that offer more than a few years to a decade of data.

Quote from: Revalin on September 14, 2011, 05:42:13 AM

It only protects to the degree of its intrinsic value. Is there really $10 trillion of intrinsic value in gold? If not then what's supporting it other than speculation and CBs manipulating their currencies?

What intrinsic value? As the saying goes, "you can't eat gold". Its value is derived from its relation to everything else, primarily because of physical properties and the fact that it exists in such a steady and limited quantity.

A better question might be: how much is society worth? While the same can apply to paper currency, the difference is that gold does not require management to act as a representative of work effort or wealth. No physical asset functions as well as gold for the purpose of a currency, and no abstract representation has been able to avoid the pitfalls of centralized control and management until Bitcoin came along. With every other currency in a state of violent flux, gold is resuming its currency status.

An even more appropriate question now is: how much gold is necessary to stabilize the global monetary system? If it's 20% of all money currently in the world, USD denomination based on base money and debt obligations outstanding, the flow will result in a major revaluation of gold in relation to all other assets. The figure of $10 trillion seems a very low estimate.