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Business Daily: Soaring gold prices  

12/11/2010

Soaring gold prices  

BBC World Service - Business Daily, Soaring gold prices

As gold prices hit record highs, is the bubble about to pop? Plus why we trust banknotes

As gold prices hit record highs, is the bubble about to pop? Plus, why we trust banknotes.

The price of gold has soared in the last year. Holding gold has always been seen as an insurance policy against rising prices, and some investors think that the creation of new money by central banks makes inflation likely to go up. 

As the price has risen, some businesses have jumped at the chance of buying gold from members of the public. Lesley Curwen talks to John Nichols of H&T Group, Britain's leading pawnbroking chain, which runs a series of Gold Bar shops which buy old jewellery.

George Magnus, Senior Economic Adviser at UBS Investment Bank explains why so many investors have been attracted to gold, and why the price may climb even higher.

However some believe there is a dangerous bubble in gold prices, including Mark Williams, Professor of Finance and Economics at Boston University School of Management. He tells Lesley Curwen that double-digit returns carry increased risks.

Plus our commentator Steve Fritzinger muses on how the value of banknotes is a matter of trust.

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