Paul: Do you think gold is money?
Bernanke: No.
It’s not money?
It’s a precious metal.
Even if it has been money for 6,000 years, somebody reversed that and eliminated that economic law?
Well, it’s an asset. Would you say Treasury bills are money? I don’t think they’re money either, but they’re a financial asset.
Why do central banks hold it?
Well, it’s a form of reserves.
Why don’t they hold diamonds?
Well it’s tradition — long-term tradition.
Well, some people still think it’s money.
In the U.S. anyway, those people are wrong.
