I think it 'frames up' the situation with regard to the repatriation of Germany's gold from the US very nicely.
How sovereign is Germany relative to the US? Indeed how sovereign are a number of the western nations vis-à-vis the Anglo-American establishment? The recent search for the elusive Snowden cast some light on the issue of sovereignty.
And as a corollary, how complacent and compliant are the western people to the Banks? Have the Banks quietly assumed the role of government, without proper accountability to the people?
And secondly, what exactly is the problem with the gold? Is it there or gone? And if it is there, is it already spoken for, in the manner of modern banking rehypothecation? And if so, why?
Jeff Nielson casts some light on that subject of central bank leasing in his recent article here. It is finely reasoned. Short selling is legal, but like many legal things it can become illegal if it is done with an intent to manipulate prices, even with the blessing of entities who, through their association with a sovereign, hold themselves to be above the law and public accountability.
This is the excerpt of Herr Schall's interview. You may make up your own mind as events unfold, but it does seem to parse the subject quite nicely.
Lars Schall: In January this year, the Deutsche Bundesbank announced that it wants to repatriate some of its gold holdings at the NY Fed and all of its gold from the Banque de France. Do you consider it a bit strange that apparently it will take seven years to bring roughly 300 tons of gold from New York City to Frankfurt and five years to bring roughly 370 tons from Paris to Frankfurt? Moreover, the Bundesbank will leave a huge amount of its gold in New York City and London to have in the event of a currency crisis ”the ability to exchange gold for foreign currency […] within a short space of time.” Does this argument convince you?
Norbert Haering: The specifics of the plan for partial repatriation of gold seem to be designed to quash the public discussion about gold storage abroad. For many years to come, the Bundesbank will be able to answer these calls by saying: we are already working on it. And that will work well as a communication strategy. But the truth of the matter is that there is no good reason to store your national gold treasure abroad. The issue and the way in which the Bundesbank got itself tangled up in conflicting statements and justifications during these discussions makes one suspicious that either there is a problem with the gold or that Germany might not be as sovereign a state as we like to think. I do not know which one is true.
Lars Schall, Money Lies Disguise Banking Truths: An Interview with Norbert Haering
I find the refusal of the Federal Reserve to release the national gold of Germany for repatriation for seven years to be one of the most remarkable of recent developments in the world of money. And it is all the more remarkable in that so few are willing to even ask the most fundamental of questions regarding the custodial integrity of the bankers.
It is truly the dog that did not bark.
Stand and deliver. Either the bullion, or the truth.
Note: You may click on the label 'German Gold' just below to see the other articles I have written about this subject. In retrospect it seems rather obvious that this smash in gold price is tied to the request for the repatriation of Germany's gold, and the panic that ensued. Just how depleted or compromised is the custodial bullion held in NY and London?
