It was 1998. My friends and I would book the one computer that was connected to the internet at our local computer shop - 4:00 pm, after school. Enough time for us to order chips from the fish n chip shop across the road, lick our oily fingers and wipe them dry on our grey school trousers. We would then cross the road to what would be the most fascinating yet most confusing 10 minutes of the day - to surf the net. It would cost $10 for 10 minutes - and it was the slowest thing ever. Yet we would not know it at the time. I think that computer store is now a kebab shop - I must confess, I have not been.

They trade at a multiple of almost 42 times their earnings, more than double the S&P's average of almost 19 times. Investors are falling over each other to get their hands on the Blue Chip companies - all with proven records of growth. Amongst them, IBM, Xerox, General Electric, Avon Products, Polaroid, and Eastman Kodak. What followed was a decline in investment by 60%. This was 1972.

In investing, what is comfortable is rarely profitable - Rob Arnott At every market collapse investors never fail to draw comparisons to that of 1929. Manufacturing narratives as why this collapse will be equal to or worse than that of The Great Depression.

We have gold because we cannot trust governments - President Herbert Hoover, 1933 Soon after, the Emergency Banking Act was introduced, forcing all Americans to convert their gold coins, bullion, and certificates into US dollars. In 1973 the US finally abandoned the gold standard and replaced it fully with fiat currency (money issued by the government).

Why Gold US$3,000 is next - Bank of America As Gold rallies to US$2,000 an ounce, we lift the hood on this thing and take a look at the price of gold adjusted for inflation. And this is what today's chart is about - the real price of gold.