By Stephen Metcalf 1/13/03 12:00am

Bullion on the Bubble; Blodget on the Skids

Gold, the ultimate pre-postmodern investment, had a big 2002, with its best annual percentage gain since 1979; the dollar, conversely,suffered its steepest plunge since 1987. Is this noise-or a trend?

The mainstream financial media is suggesting that the rising price of gold is nothing more than passing jitters. “Bets on Gold-Related Issues Reflect Events,” The Read More

By Ann Marlowe 1/06/03 12:00am

Hard Birth and Fast Start For Our Now-Almighty Dollar

Greenback: The Almighty Dollar and the Invention of America , by Jason Goodwin. Henry Holt, 321 pages, $26.

It’s easy to forget that many aspects of the American past were as messy as the present of “failed states” that we’re engaged with now. I was in Afghanistan when I read Greenback , Jason Goodwin’s Read More