Banning gold and silver in the United States would be just about as effective for igniting demand as the hints of gun control that follow every tragic school shooting. They are primitive political responses with predictable outcomes equal and opposite to what was intended.
For gold and silver, the best ‘they’ can do now is pretend as though the price is not already under full control. Like whistling past the graveyard for the dollar. Gold left the western mainstream portfolio generations ago.
But the precious metals never left completely. They can’t be destroyed. Relic or no, billions have not forgotten. Humans haven’t changed that much.
It took 40 years to completely remove metals, and yet central banks still ‘hoard it’. No, they don’t officially recognize it as such. To admit that would be to legitimize it. To confiscate again, at this point in the cycle, would be the same. This time is different.
Now we have machines. Paper electronica. Special drawing rights in a World Monetary system. Hanging, ripe for the taking. Banning gold wasn’t enough the last time. They didn’t ‘devalue’ enough. Now they don’t need it. Gold was already well down the path of its de-tethering.
From Wikipedia:
The main rationale behind the order was actually to remove the constraint on the Federal Reserve which prevented it from increasing the money supply during the depression; the Federal Reserve Act required 40% gold backing of Federal Reserve Notes issued. By the late 1920s, the Federal Reserve had almost hit the limit of allowable credit (in the form of Federal Reserve demand notes) that could be backed by the gold in its possession (see Great Depression). If gold can’t be legally owned, then it can’t be legally redeemed. If it can’t be legally redeemed, then it can’t constrain the central bank.
They can just do more with digits. And the low hanging fruit in the digital matrix is ripe for the picking. How quickly it will sour. Let them try and take it again; it will be the final straw that breaks confidence once and for all – trickle down.