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Over the last 2 or 3 months people have been bombarding me with links regarding “Yamashita’s gold.”  They tell me that the world is awash in gold and that according to Karen Hudes (formerly high level lawyer of the World Bank) 170,000 tons of gold are just sitting in a vault in Hawaii.  Others have told me that no, she only says that “certificates” representing this 170,000 tons are in Hawaii.  Privately I have been told that she has backed off of this claim and says that the gold is hidden in the Philippines.  First off, claims such as these surely taint us “conspiracy (fact) nuts” reputations …and secondly this nice round number of 170,000 tons is roughly the estimate of all gold that has been mined…since the beginning of recorded time.  This amount of gold is 20 times more than the U.S. purports to have.  This amount is more than 5 times the amount that ALL central banks purport to have!

I’m not sure which direction to go first so let’s look at it from a U.S. centric standpoint and then move on.  If this was true and “we” did have this amount of gold in Hawaii it would have to be stored somewhere right?  This “somewhere” would have to be pretty big since it’s almost 40 times what is supposedly in Ft. Knox and it would have to be guarded?  It would have had to have been shipped there at some point and presumably heavily guarded with human beings who actually “speak.”  “Speak” as in word would have gotten around about the lines of armored cars and guards moving “something” from somewhere into a vault…in Hawaii.  Now, would the U.S. have been dumb enough to store 30 or 40 times the amount that Ft. Knox supposedly holds…in the middle of the Pacific Ocean?  Somewhere that could be overrun since Hawaii is not really “inside” the belly of our borders?  This would be easy pickin’s wouldn’t it?  I don’t know about you but I normally put valuables in my front pocket when in cities or highly trafficked areas to avoid a “sneak attack” and so that IF someone were to get their hand in my pocket I’d at least get a shot at knocking the snot out of them…in other words back pockets (or pinned to your ear like Hawaii is to our mainland) are just too risky.

Looking from another angle, if we really had 170,000 tons (instead of “supposedly” 8,133 tons) wouldn’t we have mobilized it already?  Wouldn’t we have been “feeding it out” and the price of gold still is something like $300 per ounce…or less, and the dollar would be, well…still a dollar?  Would we have had to close the gold window back in 1971?  Or could that gold have lasted until now and maybe even for a few more years?  Wouldn’t it have been re hypothecated like all the rest of the gold?  Maybe only 5 times over rather than 100…but still re hypothecated?  I don’t get it; this can only be a fairy tale from my standpoint because there is no evidence at all of “secret storage” in Hawaii.

That said, I do fully believe that a hoard(s) of valuables called “Yamashita’s gold” did and probably to some extent does still exist.  A little history, Japan invaded and plundered wealth from many Asian countries prior to and early into WWII, this is known.  They also were known to have plundered wealth many years prior to WWII and were a feared foe all across Asia, if you don’t believe me then dig into some history books, this is not speculation.  A great book by the way on this topic is “Gold Warriors” by Sterling and Peggy Seagraves, I read this a few years back and thought that it was well done, intensely researched and not just opinion or conspiracy theory.

In any case, Japan had every reason in the world to “move their loot” toward the end of the war and much of it purportedly landed in the Philippines.  Was this the source to Marcos’ wealth?  Maybe.  Did the U.S. ultimately end up with much of this gold?  Probably.  Is there still some in the Philippines that has not yet been recovered?  Most likely there is.  My point is this, whatever the “haul” was has already been used up.  Over the years it has hit the market and either been hoarded, turned into jewelry or “used” as in electronics…or stolen by politicians.  Could another “cave” or caves be found?  Of course they could but 170,000 tons is laughable beyond magic mushrooms!

So let’s “hallucinate” just a little and assume that instead of the 170,000 estimated tons of above ground gold there is actually another 170 to make 340,000 tons of “stock.”  This still does not change the fact that “flow” currently is about 2,700 tons coming out of the ground while 5,000 tons are being spoken for each year.  Demand is dwarfing supply and the price will reflect this reality by moving higher, much higher to ration demand.  This is the way Mother Nature works and she doesn’t give a “rat’s behind” about rumors, legends or myths.  Her will may be altered by the “fake supply”  afforded by paper contracts but she will sort it all out in the end.  Gold is gold and paper is paper, there is only so much real gold dug up and out of the ground each year while a literal infinite supply of paper is created that will ultimately chase this metal.

“Good money will drive out bad money” is the saying…it is also the rule!  People, because Mother Nature tells them to (innately) will always “spend” the money that they think is “bad” or will depreciate.  They will conversely not spend and in fact will “hide” (save) their “good” money.  This is just the way it is, I didn’t make the rules I’m just telling you what they are!  Maybe there really is 170,000 tons of gold that the U.S. is saving for a “rainy day” and our leaders knew to only spend dollars and not the gold?  Naw, not a chance!  Washington DC is (and has been for many years) a 3 ring circus with nothing but clown acts 24/7!  Besides, if that gold really did exist at one point …it would already have been pilfered and stolen in the process of purchasing votes as part of our “standard of living.”