Louis Pretorius, News24 User
Gold - what's the point?
Way back in Standard 5 - for the youngsters, that is what you now call Grade 7 - my English teacher made us all listen to news daily and report something the next day. I had to bring the gold price.
I learned through this that the gold price was important as it brought money to the country and made us rich. Later on, I learnt that platinum was even more valuable and even though we did not sell as much of it as gold, it also helped to make us rich.
Somewhere along the route of growing up I lost something (feels like naivety) about how gold and platinum influence the economy. And now, at the age of 40, I am convinced that it does nothing. In spite of the fact that it makes headlines in the news, and the fact that it has been very high for quite some time, I do not feel the difference in my pocket. Nor does any other proverbial man in the street.
The petrol price is sky high (and climbing), food prices are out of control and the consumer of have-to-have products is worse-off literally daily. Every time you go to the shop something else costs more than it did the previous time.
Cutting down
To add insult, the consumers of household electricity are being told to reduce their usage so the mines can run on full quota. Where I agree we all need to use electricity a lot more sparingly, I can not see that the mines can be the reason for it, because what the mines do has not affected my pocket in any sense.
Am I missing something? Is the gold price actually having an effect on the economy, but said effect is just not strong enough to be felt? Is our situation so bad that gold does actually not make a difference any more? In which case my initial question is valid - what's the point of watching it and headlining it when it reaches record price? No one seems to benefit from it?!
Further to this, an economist recently wrote an article in which it was said the rand being weak against the dollar is not necessarily bad. It is good for the mines and exports. It is? Mr Joe Average only got an 8% increase this year and the prices of all the food he needs to buy for his family, increased by more than that and this is a continuous process. He pays a lot more for the petrol he puts in his car to get to work, and so we can continue. How does he benefit from it?
I guess I'm economically challenged, because I can not fathom this one out. Is there someone out there willing to give me a crash course on "Gold And Oil For Dummies"?
Get published on News24 by sending your article, story or column to us
See who has had a say on News24.
Disclaimer: News24 encourages freedom of speech and the expression of diverse views. The views of users published on News24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of News24. News24 editors reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received.
- News24
Disclaimer: All articles and letters published on MyNews24 have been independently written by members of News24's community. The views of users published on News24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of News24. News24 editors also reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received.