In a July 13, 2011 exchange between Rep. Ron Paul and Fed Chairman Ben Bernake, Dr. Paul asks whether or not Bernanke believes gold is money. After a short pause, Bernanke answers "no," claiming that central banks only hold gold because of tradition.

According to a leaked cable the increase in China’s gold reserves is intended to “kill two birds with one stone.” Firstly, it serves as a model for other countries to encourage reserving more gold, and therefore less USD. Second, it strengthens the Chinese currency, the Renminbi, so that it can begin to replace the declining USD as the world reserve currency. All of this spells bad news for the American economy.