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THE POWER OF GOLD
This book tells the story of how people have become intoxicated,
obsessed, haunted, humbled and exalted over pieces of metal called
gold. Gold has motivated entire societies, torn economies to shreds,
determined the fate of kings and emperors, inspired the most beautiful
works of art, provoked horrible acts by one people against another, and
driven men to endure intense hardship in the hope of finding instant
wealth and annihilating uncertainty.
THE POWER OF GOLD: Prologue: The
Supreme Possession. Page 1, para2.
The most
striking feature of this long history is that gold led most of the
protagonists of the drama into the ditch. … Midas, Jason, Croesus, the
emperors of Byzantium, the survivors of the Black Death, Pizarro and his
Emperor, Charles V. MacArthur the chemist, Montagu Norman and Benjamin
Strong, Charles de Gaulle, and the gold bugs of the 1980s- all were
fools for gold, chasing an illusion. None ended up where they had
hoped. The Power of Gold:
excerpt: Epilogue: The Supreme Possession, page 372, para3
Perhaps
the wisest heroes of our story were the simple natives of Jenne and
Timbuktu who silently swapped gold for the precious salt that would
keep them alive. THE POWER
OF GOLD: Epilogue: The Supreme Possession, page 372, para5
This book is the history of the illusions
and delusions of gold. From God's instructions to build the golden
tabernacle to the ending of the monetary gold standard by Richard Nixon
in 1972. In 2002 the gold computer chip and gold bracelets are what
it's all about. Read the book and let us know your prediction of gold's
future!
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