Second wave of QE will launch gold rush

COMMENT

Now we know what a second round of quantitative easing will do. The more the US briefs that it intends to print more dollars, the more money flees into gold, other commodities and emerging markets.

The more the West signals its economic weakness, the more attractive the East seems. The more the big players try to talk down their currencies, the more investors believe them and move money elsewhere. The finance ministers at the G20 preparatory meeting over the weekend of 23 October managed to stitch together a communiqué that did not frighten the markets. Recognising something has to give in an unstable world, they hinted in future countries will examine their balance of payments and seek to make some adjustment to their currencies according to their strength or weakness. The impl...