What important role does gold play in the economy and politics of individuals, countries and even the whole world?

In the whole economic activities of human society, gold plays an extremely important role, but its traditional functions mainly include the following four categories. As a currency commodity and a reserve of national currency, gold has long performed the functions of value scale, circulation means, storage means, payment means and world currency, of which the first two are basic functions. Historically, gold was directly used as a currency commodity in many countries, such as Britain, the United States, Spain and Mexico. Only later, with the collapse of the gold standard in the world, gold gradually emerged from the field of currency circulation, but it still maintained the function of storage means. At present, although some countries are reducing the proportion of gold in reserve assets, and some central banks headed by young people have also reduced their gold reserves because they emphasize the liquidity and appreciation of reserve assets and despise gold known for its preservation and stability, the role of gold as a national reserve must not be underestimated. For example, since the 1960s, the Deutsche Mark has been one of the strongest currencies in the world, which is directly related to the huge gold reserves maintained by the Bundesbank.

At present, most governments still buy gold as a reserve to maintain monetary and economic stability. At present, gold as a currency reserve accounts for 60% of the total gold mined. Even the United States, which has been advocating the "gold uselessness", still owns about 25% of the world's official gold reserves. In addition, about 25% of gold production is still cast into gold bars and bricks every year, which are kept in the vaults of governments around the world as insurance measures to prevent economic crisis or natural disasters, in order to cope with war and inflation, and only a small part is cast into gold coins for circulation. Second, personal financial assets investment tools In the period of economic stability, people's interest in gold is not great. Because the act of simply storing gold has no interest income, and it also needs to pay the storage and custody fees, at this time, personal purchase of gold can only be regarded as a hobby of gold collectors, and can not be regarded as a means of investment preservation. For example, this happened in the 1950s, when the world economy showed a comprehensive recovery. By the end of 1990s, when the financial crisis occurred in Southeast Asia, South Korea, Taiwan Province Province of China, Hongkong of China and other countries and regions, especially the people of South Korea launched the movement of saving the country with private donations.

During the financial crisis, the positive role played by gold made people have a new understanding of the role of gold as an investment hedging tool.

In the form of preservation, appreciation and storage, gold mostly exists in the form of gold nuggets, gold bars, gold bricks and pure gold coins. 3. Special Materials for Beautifying Life About two-thirds of the gold produced in the world every year is used as decorations, mainly in the jewelry industry. Gold has a long history as an ornament, and many countries in the world have left a historical record of making jewelry with gold. Gold ornaments fully embody the characteristics of gold-beauty, softness and strong corrosion resistance.

In addition, gold ornaments also reflect a complex social phenomenon. Gold ornaments can not only bring beauty to people, but also fully show their identity and wealth. In feudal society, gold once made the society hierarchical. Obviously, only aristocrats and bureaucrats have a lot of gold ornaments, while the poor have little or no gold ornaments, so gold is a symbol of wealth. 4. Raw materials for industry, medical care and high technology At the beginning of the 20th century, gold began to be widely used in industry, medical care and high technology. Gold has good electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, corrosion resistance, tensile resistance, wear resistance and arc resistance, and is widely used in aerospace, electronic appliances and other industries. Almost all key components such as spacecraft, satellites, rockets, missiles, electrical instruments in airplanes, and electrical contacts of micromotors are made of gold and its alloys. Gold and its alloys are not easy to oxidize, have high melting point, and have strong insulation and wear resistance. For example, the instruments on the Apollo spacecraft in the United States were treated with transition gold technology, and some advanced contactors, pins, relays, switch contacts and circuit boards on large computers in the electronic industry were also made of gold. According to statistics, about 80 tons of gold is used in emerging high-tech industries such as electronics industry, aerospace industry, computer and electronic communication every year. Gold has good toughness and ductility, and it is also an excellent material for printing miniature electronic circuit boards. If this microelectronic circuit is used in a new computer, it can save several miles of wires, thus making it possible for the computer to develop into miniaturization and miniaturization. In the aerospace field, electronic components made of gold not only have good conductivity, but also have long service life. Of course, if the surface of the spacecraft is plated with a layer of gold with a thickness of only 0.06 inch, it can also form an ideal reflective film, which is enough to protect the spacecraft from the hot sunshine in space. In addition, about 60 tons of gold is used in the medical field every year in the world, mainly for dental implants and the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Gold is also widely used in photography, medical care and other industrial fields. Of course, due to the influence of traditional hobbies and customs, even people who enter modern society still like gold ornaments very much, so about 60% of about 2,400 tons of gold produced every year in the world is still used to make jewelry for personal purchase. The remaining 25% is put into the national treasury or purchased by the central bank to make gold coins, about 5% is privately collected, and another 10% is widely used in aerospace, electronic appliances, medical industry and so on.