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Maybe it's just a coincidence but maybe instead it's
a propaganda campaign launched by the British government and the Bank of
England to assuage growing international concern about the oversubscription,
lending, and swapping of Western central bank reserves.
First, a few days ago, the Bank of England invited videojournalist Brady Haran and University of Nottingham
chemistry Professor Martyn Poliakoff
to tour its gold vault for a fascinating lecture in which the professor
discussed gold's remarkable qualities. (Of course gold's most remarkable
quality, politely overlooked by the professor, may be its capacity to
replicate itself to infinity in the hands of a central bank -- just like
ordinary money.) The Guardian's report of the tour, along with a link to the
video made about it, is here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/grrlscientist/2012/dec/10/1
And then today the Bank of England welcomed Queen
Elizabeth II herself for an even grander tour of its gold vault, which
attracted all the major British news organizations and instantly became a
sensation throughout the United Kingdom.
The Telegraph's story is here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newsvideo/royalfamilyvideo/9742780/Queen...
The Evening Standard's is here:
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/dont-do-it-again-prince-philips-advice...
But perhaps most interesting is the Daily Mail's
account, since it is accompanied by the most photographs and is headlined
with what may have been meant as a bit of a joke but what actually is the
crucial question of the hour, never officially asked: "How Much of This
Is One's Own Gold?":
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2247578/How-ones-gold-Queen-insp...
How much indeed? For as recently as last year the
Bank of England insisted on secrecy for its gold market activities, including
leasing, which the bank said it discontinued in 2007; swapping, on which the
bank did not comment; and transactions involving other central banks whose
gold is vaulted or said or thought to be vaulted at the Bank of England:
http://www.gata.org/node/10778
Of course one can't expect the queen to be familiar
with such obscure detail. She has spent her life not studying economics but,
far more tediously, gladhanding for the British
government, and when she was trotted through the gold vault today it was her
job to accept the most superficial and patronizing answers from bank
officials about how the disaster in the world financial system could have
been allowed to happen. But they did let her see the gold -- somebody's
gold anyway.
Now if only the queen could get an invitation to
tour Fort Knox. Could those Australian radio pranksters be persuaded to do
just one more royal impersonation in a phone call to the Treasury Department?
Or would that risk
Secretary Geithner's
suicide?
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