The story of the German gold reserves has been going on for more than a year now. If someone has not heard yet, then Germany demanded that the United States and France return part of the reserves to it. The latter have been in storage with these countries for more than a dozen years. And how did they even get there? And why does the United States refuse to return what is not rightfully theirs?
Historical background
Of course, the Germans did not bring their gold to the USA. It's just that many years ago, back in the post-war period, it was purchased and stored there. The Bundesbank still considers such a policy reasonable enough. Why take away gold from places of large trade? In the event that Germany's gold reserves need to be quickly sold for foreign currency, it will be just "at hand". Here is such a system. And not to say that only Germany holds such views.
How the scandal started
About a year ago, several deputiesThe Bundestag "unexpectedly" found out where Germany's gold reserves are stored, namely 45%. The word “unexpectedly” is put in quotation marks, because the very idea that the politicians holding such high positions did not know about this is not just surprising, but a grin. Most likely, it was a populist move aimed at increasing their own ratings.
There is another version: the situation is so deadlocked that it makes no sense to keep silent. It seems that this version is correct.
In general, the Germans, of course, have something to worry about. The reserve gold reserve of Germany is 3386 tons, the second largest in the world! In the first place, of course, the United States of America, the presence of the precious metal in the vaults of which has been questioned for some time now.
Give me a little bit
In March 2013, the Bundesbank demanded that the US return not all of its gold reserves, but only 300 tons held by the Federal Reserve in New York.
Total German precious metal in the US more than 1500 tons. But naturally, not all of Germany's gold reserves are stored there. It is known that 31% of the reserve is located at home, far from major centers of trade. Another 13% are in the Bank of England and 11% in the Bank of France. By the way, the plans of the German government until 2020 to return all the gold in Paris and 300 tons of precious metal from the United States. Why so little? Is it just because it's far away? It turns out that they will sell their gold only in New York and London? Not really.
Poor quality bars
Recently another story of the post-war years has been made public. It turns out that after the Second World War, a batch of ingots of deliberately low quality was delivered from the USA to England, about which the central banks of these powers were well aware. The documents found indicate that the gold did not meet the so-called London quality delivery standard. Since the last shipment was destined for Germany on account of regular payments, this was kept silent. And the Germans, who at that moment had no time for disputes, accepted the "gold" without talking.
This is one known case. It remains a mystery how many low-quality gold supplies were in Germany in general, and what is actually in Germany's vaults now?
Immediately remember another story from the recent past. The Chinese have discovered that some banks around the world are stocking counterfeit bars that were made from tungsten and plated with gold. What was actually delivered to Germany, one can only guess. But back to London.
Secret export
We assumed that the Germans are going to trade in gold in such large trading centers as London and New York. But it became known that Germany's gold reserves "disappeared" from England: almost two-thirds of it was taken out. Until 2000, there were about 1.5 thousand tons, and by 2001 only 550 tons remained! Recall that the Germans wanted to take out 300 tons from the USA in seven years, and here in just a yeareasily took almost 1000 tons? Is it all about the high cost of transportation?
By the way, the export of gold from England went almost “silently”, there was no scandal. An interesting fact is that the gold reserves of Germany returned from there were melted down. It is alleged that this was done to increase its sample to the level of London quality delivery. It is strange, because it is known that the Bank of England does not take anything else for safekeeping. Maybe another poor-quality supply?..
American bubble
For several years now, everyone has been saying that the US economy is undergoing a serious crisis. American foreign debt is hanging on the brink of a fiscal cliff, but this world power continues to not only “keep afloat”, but also control world politics and finance. What is the secret of such success? It is clear that a lot is tied to the dollar. Oil is sold and bought, basically, only for their currency. Very beneficial for the US, although there has been talk lately of using other currencies.
Another plus is the largest US gold reserve on the planet. Again, just words. What, then, prevented the American authorities from satisfying Germany's demands and returning a fraction of its gold?
At first, the Germans were generally refused. Germany then expressed a desire to make sure that the German gold reserves in the US were safe and sound. As a result, one of the vaults was opened, but no one was allowed inside. And it is not known what the German inspectors saw there. By the way, 5 tons of precious metal from the USA still managed toreturn. According to some German publications, several hundred thousand euros were spent on its transportation. The latter is again questionable. If transportation is so expensive, then 1000 tons, which was urgently returned from England, should have depreciated this gold. Many will object that it is further and, indeed, more expensive to carry from the USA, because the costs are mainly for security. Fuel costs for ships or aircraft are hardly comparable.
But back to US gold. It turns out that experts who have seen these bars claim that they are marked in 2013. That is, these are not at all the ingots that were accepted for storage. Nothing is known about the quality of the latter either.
Tangled story
As you know, the American economy (what to say, and the world) rests on virtual (electronic) money. Every day, thousands of brokers on the stock exchanges sell and buy stocks, currencies and precious metals. And if the situation with the last two cases is quite transparent, then with bonds the matter is dark. People buy and resell debt, and according to some reports, they now accumulated in the amount of twenty times the world's GDP! And what if one day you have to pay these obligations?
According to this principle, a huge external debt of the United States appeared, because the printing press does not belong to the state. For social reforms, the government has to borrow money from a group of private banks. Agree that lending money to someone who has never received itwill give, the banks will be for the time being. At least it won't last long.
There is an opinion that there is no more gold in the United States federal reserve (and this is in the country where Germany's gold reserves are stored!). It has either been pegged as debt or is actively being sold to keep the price of gold low. Another recent scandal confirms the first assumption.
When the ends don't meet
In 2011, one of the world's largest private gold custodians was forced to sue to determine who actually owned the precious metal worth $850 million. This happened when several owners began to lay claim to the same ingots at once. The latter, in turn, was caused by the fact that in the course of credit operations the gold was re-mortgaged several times, and now it is simply not possible to determine its true owner. And all this despite the fact that the precious metal in storage is not subject to such operations.
All possible answers
Is Germany's gold reserves in the US? The question remains open. Legally, yes, but in fact… Has Germany's gold reserves disappeared? Most likely, he went into circulation. Gold is either pledged or sold. The Americans did the same as any bank where you deposit your money. Let's say you deposited a large amount into your account today, and if you demand it back in a couple of days, then most likely they will refuse you, explaining that you need to look for cash. Your money was put into circulation, for example,giving someone a loan. Agree, the bank should also earn money.
There is an opinion that the Americans do not want to give Germany gold, because they are afraid that the Germans will leave the Eurozone. Germany is going to return the stamp to circulation, providing it with its own gold. After all, the Germans have more than half of Europe. Not a bad leash holds in the hands of the United States, is not it? It's good to have a political and economic ally whose gold reserves you completely control.
The current situation
Officially, the German authorities deny the information that Germany is returning the gold reserves from America. They say that the United States proved to be a good partner and kept German gold completely free of charge (unlike England and France). Why is it for the Americans? It remains only to guess. They say that gold gives weight to their reserve currency. But wouldn't it be better for the Germans if it were located where Germany's gold reserves provided a currency like the euro?
But the Fed is not trusted even by the Americans themselves. So the question of where Germany's gold reserves are located remains open to this day.
