Another thought:
- The US tried to de-monetize gold in 1971 and did so to some extent.
- Oil took over from gold over the next decade or so.
- In the 90s, gold was dead, oil was the game.
- In the commodities rise so far, oil has seen the devastating sell-off (in 2008), not so much gold.
=> Thesis: the 1974 gold crash has been repeated in oil in 2008. It therefore won't happen in gold.