News Story of the Day: The Canadian government has embarked upon a multi-year strategy to sell of gold in order to hoard other countries’ currencies. Unlike its G7 partners, Canada’s gold reserves have pretty much gone to nothing as of the end of last month. Ottawa currently holds roughly 77 ounces of gold, which is about $130,000CAD, and it mostly consists of gold coins, according to the Department of Finance’s international reserves data.
Ottawa may have already sold the remaining 77 ounces. It won’t be known until this month or in April.
“The decision to sell the gold was not tied to a specific gold price, and sales are being conducted over a long period and in a controlled manner,” Finance Department spokesman David Barnabe told CBC News. “The government has a long-standing policy of diversifying its portfolio by selling physical commodities (such as gold) and instead investing in financial assets that are easily tradable and that have deep markets of buyers and sellers.”
Canada’s gold holdings peaked in the 1960s when the Great White North held more than 1,000 tones. Since then, however, Canada has been selling off its gold holdings. In fact, in the year 2003, Ottawa had just 3.4 tonnes!
Gold prices have been soaring as of late and are approaching the $1,300 mark.
Chart of the Day: Although the media are covering the increase in gold prices, what should also be dominating headlines is the number of silver sales. According to data from Smaulgld, Perth Mint silver sales totaled more than one million ounces in the month of February, while the U.S. Mint recorded five million ounces. Here is the chart:
Illustration of the Day: The United States is well into primary season, but as citizens head to the voting booth, the key question should be: “Do I really have a choice here? Is there any meaningful differences between any of the candidates?” The obvious answer is no. Smaulgld has a superb illustration posted on its website.
Quote of the Day: Since it was Murray Rothbard’s birthday this week, we thought it would be nice to post a quote from the legendary economist. Here is Rothbard on taxation:
“Taxation is theft, purely and simply even though it is theft on a grand and colossal scale which no acknowledged criminals could hope to match. It is a compulsory seizure of the property of the State’s inhabitants, or subjects.”
Video of the Day: With Donald Trump releasing his tax plan this week and Republicans pledging, once again, to repeal Obamacare in its entirety (it won’t happen), the talk has been what the free market alternatives to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) would be. Here is Independent Institute Senior Fellow John R. Graham and Washington Examiner managing editor Philip Klein discuss free market healthcare reforms and federal involvement in healthcare:
Leave a Comment