Bailout countries could sell their gold reserves to reduce debt woes

Why should countries subject to EU/IMF financial assistance not be force to sell their gold reserves, German politicians ask. Norbert Barthle, Germany's governing coalition budget speaker, and his counterpart Carsten Schneider from the Social Democrats have urged Portugal to consider selling some of its gold reserves to reduce its debt woes and therefore the bailout costs, Wall Street Journal reports.  Portugal has nearly 383 tons of gold, about 9% of its GDP, which is the highest proportion in Europe. Portugal's holding would be worth $18 billion at current market rates. But Portugal has signed central-bank agreements not to destabilize the gold market, and announcing an imminent dump of their reserves would certainly do that. Some market analysts suggest that the gold of debtor states could be used as collateral in repurchase agreements (We think this is a complicated issue, as any form of collateralised borrowing would subordinate ordinary sovereign bond holders )

This is where narrative and myth start to become very dangerous: if we have to sell that gold, more and more voices will start suggesting that "in that time" things were much better managed (nevermind appalling statistics about infant mortality, poverty, class divide, war in Africa or lack of "less efficient" freedom of speech and democracy). I think we are on a dangerous path in regards to the construction of the myth of "the better government framework". Many people (right and left) already talk about how things were "well managed" at that time.

Beware the power of myths.

1. Get the Euro
   
2. Surrender sovereignty and get humiliated
   
3. Forego democracy. Formal democracy at least, because informal one is currently being destroyed as we speak