Merryn Somerset Webb, Columnist

Gold Is Getting Its Glitter Back

In today’s markets, there aren’t many other things you can turn to as a long-term safe haven.

Go for it.

Photographer: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images AsiaPac
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When I recently went to talk to some school children about the nature of money, I brought props: a cowrie shell, a piece of play paper and a small handful of shredded dollar bills. Which of these, I asked, is money?

The point I wanted to make: It is all about belief. If everyone agrees something is money, it is indeed money. One particularly engaged child interrupted me just as I was getting going on the rai stones of Yap to ask: Can fiat currencies really survive? Not what you might expect from an 11-year-old.