| Abstract [eng] |
Topicality of the monograph. For hundreds of years gold has been playing a unique role in human societies. Since the times of ancient Egypt up to these days there have been very few metals which have played such an important role in mankind history as gold. Appreciation of gold is as old as the written history of mankind. Although the accurate data on when a human for the first time picked up a golden nugget is hard to obtain, golden remnants are found in paleontological caves, which, according to the archaeological findings, appeared 40000 BC (Hur, 2017). Although nowadays gold has stopped being used as a tool for daily settlements, its role in global economies remains very significant. The evidence that proves the significance of gold in economics is the balance sheet data provided by central banks and other reputable financial institutions, such as International Monetary Fund (Balarie, 2017): the above-mentioned institutions accumulate gold reserves and generate approximately one-fifth of the global demand for gold. One of the characteristics possessed by gold is the ability to maintain the value of assets through thousands of mankind generations. The same, however, cannot be said about paper money. If, for instance, in 1970, an investor had decided to hold gold (back to then, gold was traded for 35 US dollars) instead of holding 35 US dollars in cash, today this investor could still buy a new qualitative suit, which would not be affordable for 35 US dollars. Gold has preserved its value in the course of time, while the value of paper money has been reduced by inflation. The analysis of the London Bullion Market prognosticate that by the end of 2017, the average gold price will rise by 5.3 percent in comparison to the price captured in 2016, and will approximately reach 1244 US dollars per ounce (i.e. gold price will vary in the interval from 1101 to 1379 US dollars per ounce) (the London Bullion Market, 2017a). It is considered that in 2017, investors in gold will have to go through the variety of hardly predictable events caused by great global political uncertainty, nationalist views of the US President Donald Trump, potentially hard exit negotiations between the UK and the EU, the results of elections in France and Germany and the growing tension between the USA and China. |
