Why price everything in gold?

The dollar is a moving ruler

When you measure a stock in dollars, you're measuring it with a ruler that keeps shrinking. That shrinking has a name: **inflation**. Official US CPI shows the dollar has lost roughly 87% of its purchasing power since 1971 — a basket of goods that cost $1 then costs about $7.80 today. The cause sits upstream of prices: since the US left the gold standard in 1971, the M2 money supply has expanded from roughly $700 billion to over $21 trillion — a roughly 30x increase. Headline prices go up partly because businesses earn more, but mostly because each dollar is worth less. Inflation is the tax you pay for holding the ruler.

Gold is a (nearly) fixed ruler

Above-ground gold supply grows by about 1.5–1.7% per year through mining. There is no central bank that can decide to print more of it. Across centuries the purchasing power of an ounce of gold has been remarkably stable — a Roman senator's toga, a fine 1900 men's suit, and a good 2024 men's suit all cost roughly an ounce of gold.

What you'll notice

Most assets look very different in gold. The S&P 500 in dollars only goes up. The S&P 500 in gold cycles violently — peaking in 1929, 1968, and 1999, troughing in 1932, 1980, and 2011. Toggle a chart and decide for yourself which version is closer to the truth.