I've yet to meet a gold bug that wasn't a little bit cracked.
It's all relative.
Now, I take the view that Money is "Dynamic Value" and exists only in the transitory moment of Value Exchange by reference to a "Value Unit" (Mig's Numeraire).
Capital, on the other hand (underpinned by the "Property" relationship) is "Static Value" or "Potential Money".
IMHO "Value" is a direct analogy for "Energy" , and that Economics could be thought of as the "Physics of Value". "Any economic unit can emit money. The serious problem is to get it accepted" Hyman Minsky
Wikipedia: Applications of Gold
Some gold salts do have anti-inflammatory properties and are used as pharmaceuticals in the treatment of arthritis and other similar conditions. However, only salts and radioisotopes of gold are of pharmacological value, as elemental (metallic) gold is inert to all chemicals it encounters inside the body. Gold solder is used for joining the components of gold jewellery by high-temperature hard soldering or brazing. Dentistry: ... The gold alloys' slight malleability facilitates the creation of a superior molar mating surface with other teeth and produces results that are generally more satisfactory than those produced by the creation of porcelain crowns. In photography, Gold toners are used to shift the colour of silver bromide black and white prints towards brown or blue tones, or to increase their stability. Gold is highly conductive to electricity, and has been used for electrical wiring in some high energy applications (silver is even more conductive per volume, but gold has the advantage of corrosion resistance). ... Though gold is attacked by free chlorine, its good conductivity and general resistance to oxidation and corrosion in other environments (including resistance to non-chlorinated acids) has led to its widespread industrial use in the electronic era as a thin layer coating electrical connectors of all kinds, thereby ensuring good connection. ... Besides sliding electrical contacts, gold is also used in electrical contacts because of its resistance to corrosion, electrical conductivity, ductility and lack of toxicity. Colloidal gold is used in research applications in medicine, biology and materials science. Gold, or alloys of gold and palladium, are applied as conductive coating to biological specimens and other non-conducting materials such as plastics and glass to be viewed in a scanning electron microscope. Gold is used as the reflective layer on some high-end CDs. The isotope gold-198, (half-life: 2.7 days) is used in some cancer treatments and for treating other diseases.
Gold solder is used for joining the components of gold jewellery by high-temperature hard soldering or brazing.
Dentistry: ... The gold alloys' slight malleability facilitates the creation of a superior molar mating surface with other teeth and produces results that are generally more satisfactory than those produced by the creation of porcelain crowns.
In photography, Gold toners are used to shift the colour of silver bromide black and white prints towards brown or blue tones, or to increase their stability.
Gold is highly conductive to electricity, and has been used for electrical wiring in some high energy applications (silver is even more conductive per volume, but gold has the advantage of corrosion resistance). ... Though gold is attacked by free chlorine, its good conductivity and general resistance to oxidation and corrosion in other environments (including resistance to non-chlorinated acids) has led to its widespread industrial use in the electronic era as a thin layer coating electrical connectors of all kinds, thereby ensuring good connection. ... Besides sliding electrical contacts, gold is also used in electrical contacts because of its resistance to corrosion, electrical conductivity, ductility and lack of toxicity.
Colloidal gold is used in research applications in medicine, biology and materials science.
Gold, or alloys of gold and palladium, are applied as conductive coating to biological specimens and other non-conducting materials such as plastics and glass to be viewed in a scanning electron microscope.
Gold is used as the reflective layer on some high-end CDs.
The isotope gold-198, (half-life: 2.7 days) is used in some cancer treatments and for treating other diseases.
But, yeah, the "Gold standard" is a throwback to a time when wealth was flaunted by wearing and using gold. Bush is a symptom, not the disease.
wonder how that would turn out if a real alchemist turns up?
