In 1980, when oil WAS at $40, gold was at $850. So why isn’t gold at least two and a half times higher, with oil in the $100-a-barrel range?

That would put gold at $2,125 an ounce. Outrageous, Mr. Young! Quite so, but it serves to make a point: Gold is still ludicrously underpriced.

The reason this is likely to change in 2009 is that, across the world, central bankers have laid an egg. The smelliness of this egg is strong enough to make the populace of Europe, Asia and America lose confidence in the central banking system. It’s a very real possibility.

In China and India, newfound affluence goes on the finger, not in the savings account, as I’m sure you know.

Europeans’ loathing of central banks is already well-entrenched, and tangibles are now driving the art, auction and real estate markets through the roof in London, Madrid and Milan.

In short, gold has a reason to play catch-up, and the move could be so violent, it’ll make your head spin. With the global debt crisis and inflation’s return, gold’s fundamentals have never—I mean never—been more bullish. Gold $2,125? Of course not—yet.

Robber