EDITIORIAL PAGE Gold’s 12-year high

The following is excerpted from The Gold Monitor, a newsletter published by M. Murenbeeld & Associates of Victoria, B.C. In constant dollar terms, gold is now cheaper than at any time since early 1978, when gold last traded at US$175 per oz.

Gold’s lowest point in the 1980s came in February-March, 1985. Its February, 1985, average was US$298.82 (this was the first time since July, 1979, that the gold price averaged below US$300). During June of this year, gold averaged US$352.33.

If we adjust for U.S. consumer price inflation, the US$298.82 of February, 1985, translates into US$365.21 today. Vice versa, the US$352.33 of June, 1990, translates into US$288.28 for February, 1985. Either way you look at it, gold is at a 12-year low.