Right now, however the Fed is on record that they will start monetizing debt and already basically doubled the monetary base. Velocity is still low and many banks aren’t lending, but still, with that kind of monetary expansion, there’s no reason to expect gold prices won’t continue to rise… be it to $1500 or beyond.

In the modern era of online money transfer transactions, gold can now be traded, transferred and held in accounts as a “Digital Gold Currency” or DGC. As such, it trades independent of exchange rates, although DGC deposits do fluctuate in value depending on the price of gold in your base currency.

Gold, the safe haven investment for those wishing to hedge against inflation and debt, has been maligned by some traders as an emotional investment. Outspoken economists David Rosenberg and Peter Schiff have called for $3,000/oz and $5,000/oz (and possibly $10,000/oz) gold, respectively. David Rosenberg here and Peter Schiff here.

According to Bloomberg, Ben Bernanke and the Federal Reserve have pledged “to keep the main interest rate near zero for an “extended period” and confirmed that emergency measures to prop up the housing market will end as planned this month.”

The Federal Reserve and Treasury have pumped an ungodly amount of money back into the economy, which raises serious concerns about future inflation, but for now, much of that money is stuck in the banks and velocity is extremely low.

So what have some city governments and businesses done to combat this? Well, they’ve decided to print their own money. MSN Money highlights one such example:

The spirit of the season is upon us. With Black Friday and Cyber Monday at our backs, rounding out those holiday wish lists for loved ones will consume the collective American conscious. With all of these efforts brought about by the desire to bring a smile to someone’s face, the wonder and awe of the Christmas season is truly something to be thankful for. But as chestnuts are roasting on my open fire, peppermint snow mocha’s cease to leave my hand and mistletoe is strategically placed around my home, I would be remiss if I failed to do the right thing: confront the deadweight loss of Christmas.

Many people wonder what makes gold special as a store of value. When inflation fears set in, people flock to gold. One answer is that the dollar used to be backed by gold. An even better answer I will leave to Judy Shelton, an economist and director of the National Endowment for Democracy:

As the jobless recovery rhetoric continues by the federal government, many have braced for October unemployment figures in the double digits. The Department of Labor released the latest unemployment data today, confirming those double digit concerns. U.S. unemployment hit 10.2% in October, up from 9.8% in September, the highest since April 1983.

Gold bullion futures touched a record high $1,045 in yesterday’s trading session in New York. If you believe in stock indexes breaking through resistance points, this may be just that for bullion.

Given our huge budget deficits, the United States Treasury department has come up with a brilliant plan to meet the shortfall head on. With hundreds of billions of dollars worth of gold sitting around uselessly in places like Fort Knox, why not cash it in? Thus, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has proposed to sell all U.S. gold reserves to Cash4Gold.com. The super fair and ridiculously balanced Onion News Network reports: