Gold replaces US Treasuries as world's top reserve asset, ECB says

[DFW]

3. That is one argument I'll leave to the economists

The amount of gold held in Fort Knox is worth about $660 billion at today’s price. The amount of US$ in worldwide circulation is about four times that. But if you take all of M2, i.e. dollars in cash plus savings accounts, CDs, checking accounts, foreign dollar-denominated accounts, that number rises to about $22 trillion. Consider, on the other hand, that the Euro is a created currency backed by the promises of its member central banks, and not by even one gram of gold.

Gold, it could also be noted, has dropped about 20% against the US dollar since January ($5400 then vs. about $4460 today), so even that isn’t a 100% sure thing.