It would be too much to say that the government of Germany, is taking steps toward the gold standard. After all, no committee beckons in the Bundestag. The government is entangled with Spain and Greece and the scrip known as the Euro. The newspapers are mum. It would not be too much, though, to say that the latest report from the Deutsche Bank, the country’s leading private bank, is a newsworthy document.
Deutsche Bank’s report is “Gold: Adjusting for Zero.” It reckons we’re in a situation that is “Zero for growth, yield, velocity and confidence.” It says: “We believe there are nearly zero real options available to global policy-makers. The world needs growth and is willing to go to extraordinary lengths to get it.” It forecasts bluntly that the value of the dollar will plummet in the first half of 2013 to less than a 2,000th of an ounce of gold. It reckons “the growth in supply of fiat currencies such as the USD will remain an important driver.”
In any event, the Deutsche Bank concluded that “While a gold standard could work,” it remains skeptical that it will be considered. This is owing to what it calls the power of culture. “The world economy has, over the past century, morphed into a highly integrated, government dominated system guided by conventional wisdom,” says the Deutsche Bank. “The self-reliant, individualism of the free market has been left behind in favor of a ‘new age’ of coddled consumerism. Culturally this represents a very powerful force in our view, one which minimizes creative options/solutions to economic impasses.”
