Xref: utzoo sci.engr:1387 sci.econ:3921 sci.space:31775 Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!ptimtc!nntp-server.caltech.edu!sol1.gps.caltech.edu!CARL From: carl@sol1.gps.caltech.edu (Carl J Lydick) Newsgroups: sci.engr,sci.econ,sci.space Subject: Re: Excavating (mining) gold in the space by NASA. Message-ID: <1991Jun16.112154.5069@nntp-server.caltech.edu> Date: 16 Jun 91 11:21:54 GMT References: <1991Jun14.161710.27655@noose.ecn.purdue.edu> <1991Jun14.183424.654@noose.ecn.purdue.edu>, Sender: news@nntp-server.caltech.edu Reply-To: carl@sol1.gps.caltech.edu Organization: HST Wide Field/Planetary Camera Lines: 31 In article , shafer@skipper.dfrf.nasa.gov (Mary Shafer) writes: >In article <1991Jun14.183424.654@noose.ecn.purdue.edu> G E Derylo >writes: > > I'm no economist, but wouldn't the introduction of that much gold > and platinum into the market *drastically* decrease its value, > making this a questionable financial venture? Sure, I know these > materials also have crutial industrial applications, so we're not > just dealing with jewelry here. > > But we're talking about a cubes of pure gold and platinum 25.53 and > 53.09 feet on a side respectively. I would think this kind of find, > if it were dug up tomarrow in the middle of Nebraska, would do > really nastiy things to our gold-based (?) economy. > > Can anyone with some econ background comment on this? > >The gold and silver that the Spanish brought back from the New World >messed up the European economy quite greviously. Galloping inflation, >with too much money (precious metals, of course) chasing too few goods. >This caused a lot of instability, first economic and then political. > >The diamond cartel (de Beers) very stringently limits the supply of >diamonds, to keep the price high. One thing you've got to remember about gold: it's not a purely market issue; it's sort of quasi-religious. There are so many people out there who think there's something special about it that even a rumor of a drop in its price could cause a panic. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Carl J Lydick | INTERnet: CARL@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU | NSI/HEPnet: SOL1::CARL