CJR...I think it is the sheer magnitude of dollars being printed along with the fact that the US economy has been surviving on borrowed money from dead consumers and financial "engineers" that have gutted existing capital but don't produce anything. There is a chart in the attached link that shows gold as a percentage of total dollar value of international reserve assets that illustrates this. US leadership (or lack of leadership) has got us where we are today...starting with Tricky Dick removing gold backing of the dollar. Funny...in the great depression "The Man" shafted Joe six pack when he took his gold. In the '70's "The Man" shafted the rest of the world (courtesy of the privalege of the US dollar being the reserve currency) by removing the gold-dollar peg. See a pattern here? I firmly believe this time is different. They told me back in the 70s when I was getting my economics degree that "the debt\deficit doesn't matter". The US is the biggest debter nation on the planet....and there are many reliable sources (i.e. GATA) that question how much gold we actually have left in Fort Knox. A Comex default and future Treasury default are real possiblities (imo). The other shoe has yet to drop with the papered over banking crisis. Citigroup bankruptcy anyone?

On a lighter note....do you think Fung has a "Plan B" (financing in the wings) or are we toast if these high level negotiations don't pan out?

http://www.321gold.com/editorials/saxena/saxena111309.html