> I don't know, I mean, there's lots of smart people who think gold bugs are just nutty libertarian types, and then there are other smart people who aren't particularly bullish on gold (such as yourself).

1) It doesn't depend on how smart the person is. It only depends on whether or not they believe it.

2) It doesn't have to be everyone. It just has to be enough people.

> Which leads me to a more specific question: What kind of event would cause a major "correction" that would drive the gold price down (either over time, but a significant downward trend, or suddenly, like a bubble popping)? I can't really think of one. Can you?

This actually makes me wonder what it would take to synthetically manufacture gold. A glance at Wikipedia says that it's not feasible (possible only in "unmoderated reactors", and I don't know what that means), but we seem close enough that if we wanted to, we could probably do it.

I will be thoroughly entertained if Iran actually decides not only create a honest-to-God nuclear reactor, but uses it to synthesize gold and flood the market. It'll never happen, but it would be hilarious.