If....for practical investors in the real world......one bought at PvE's fair price or below, then one would not have bought any gold in 2008, and would have had just a two week window below $850 this year.

It seems to me, that if one planned to use gold as a protection against future inflation, and used PvEs guidance, one would have had to be an exceptional timer, and very nearly there has been no opportunity to buy gold at PvEs fair value at all. That's the gap for me between PvE, and actually getting protection....would one have got in in 2008 or 9, and would one now sell one's whole position because gold at $980 is 15% above PvEs fair price for 2009?

Of course it's a global paper money thing, not just a US thing; my take is that most governments wangle the figures, and dumb the population down. In the 1970s Uk news, money supply was discussed on the evening news, now the population hasn't a clue what that is, or fractional banking. So I think monetery inflation over recent years has gone well beyond what official statistics say...not sure which figures PvE uses. Government or Shadowstats.

Obama is carrying on just as previous administrations, with the same people. As I said in a previous post, well over $100b worth of treasuries have been bought with fed money since March 09. Is that real money previously saved by the US?....surely it is money created, and then noted as debt on the balance sheet and used to fund the US, but debt only to itself, and not debt sold to another real world party. I would take that as Obama 'printing' money, but maybe others have a different view. Paper money out of nowhere...debasing the stuff.

Get digging SGR.