Metals expert discusses currencies, U.S. debt and Federal Reserve secrecy

Precious-metals expert David Levenstein discusses the significance of Fort Knox's gold in his article "Gold and the forex market: A look at the relationship between the yellow metal and currency markets and why it is important to know how much gold is in Fort Knox":

"This nondisclosure of information by the US government reminds me of the continual nondisclosure of their gold holdings, which are supposedly around 8,000 tons. As unbelievable as it seems, the last audit done of the gold inside Fort Knox was done in January of 1953. The years after 1953 saw hundreds of millions of ounces of gold fly out of the US. On Aug. 24 in an exclusive interview with Kitco's Daniela Cambone, Ron Paul called for an audit of the US gold reserves. 'If there was no question about the gold being there, you think they would be anxious to prove gold is there,' Paul said of the Federal Reserve. Now, why won't the US government allow an independent company to conduct an audit on gold? The answer is pretty obvious. Because they don't have the gold they claim to have. And, in today's economic climate, if the US suddenly stated that they have only a fraction of the gold that they claim to have, can you imagine what would happen to the greenback?

"My point is, if you look at the problems of global sovereign debt; slow economic growth, which translates into weak corporate profits; high unemployment; low interest rates; devaluing values of major currencies, and then add to the mix the potential of a much lower figure of gold held in the US reserves, what do we have? We have a recipe for a major calamity. While I cannot see the total collapse of the US dollar, the current economic scenario is frightening. Ignore it at your peril."

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