Money “Madness” Negative Interest Rates Sees Gold Buying Surge

Gold buying surged to record levels in H1, 2016 due to increasing concerns about the political, economic and monetary outlook. In particular, deepening concerns about the negative interest rate money “madness” of central banks today.

Heike Hofmann sells fruit and vegetables in Germany. She reacted to negative rates by cutting spending & buying gold bars. Photo: Georgi Kantchev/ Wall Street Journal

Yesterday we covered this surge in gold buying in western markets as detailed by the World Gold Council and what is driving this increased demand.  Monetary policies and their impact on savers, along with political risks, contributed to record H1 gold investment demand, surpassing even that of the 2009 financial crisis.

One of the key causes of the surge in demand in western markets and especially in older wealth economies like Switzerland and Germany and indeed in Japan is the unprecedented monetary experiment of ultra loose monetary policies, QE and more recently negative interest rates. Read More…