Remember me asking a couple of days ago how much of Liz Truss’s claims that our exports were booming was attributable to the repatriation of gold bars stored in London vaults to their nervous owners living abroad?
Here’s the answer from @EdConwaySky
A LOT. And it matters.
Here’s the answer from @EdConwaySky
A LOT. And it matters.
The likeliest answer?
“A US bank with London gold vaults shifted some of that gold from being "unallocated" to being "allocated". Effectively it moved it on its balance sheet. The gold stayed in the same vault but technically it shifted from UK ownership to US
“A US bank with London gold vaults shifted some of that gold from being "unallocated" to being "allocated". Effectively it moved it on its balance sheet. The gold stayed in the same vault but technically it shifted from UK ownership to US
In other words, a couple of clicks in a bank's spreadsheet caused the biggest fluctuation in Britain's trade figures in modern history. At least that's the most plausible explanation. Tho it raises further questions: why? Is the bank in trouble? And who owns the gold anyway?
