I should perhaps have held off outlining why it was internally inconsistent for goldbugs to trade ETFs because I'm not convinced anyone of that persuasion actually knew.
I am wondering exactly what would be safe for you to invest in given your strictures about synthetic asset creation. Certainly you shouldn't hold shares or bonds, in anything. Currency trades are a no-no. Real estate was corrupted by REITS even before derivatives came along. Infrastructure is a government program (Hell, no!).
I think you are limited to farmland (avoid buildings) and commodities for which you've taken delivery. Everything else is susceptible to synthetic longs and shorts and the creation of asset and liability value
out of thin air.
But wait a minute: Just because
you might hold actual gold or silver, its price is still surely corrupted (per
your taxonomy) by the presence of derivatives investors: borrowing it to sell it, or lending amounts that they don't have, and creating obligations out of thin air (
Ponzi scheme according to yourself, I believe). On what basis should silver or gold act as a store of value (to
you) given this?
And if you just believe that it
just is, then what's the reason not to apply the same logic to currency? Or ETFs? Or any instrument?
So . . . .
what's the logic again?