As Paul Volcker, a former chairman of the Federal Reserve, likes to point out, the entire banking system of many an emerging country is no bigger than a typical regional bank in the United States (the sort now considered too small for global financial markets, and merging furiously).

ECONOMIST: It all depends

Many investors believe that the actions of the Federal Reserve have introduced tremendous inflationary pressures into the system and have added gold to their portfolios in advance of the realization of those inflationary pressures.

FORBES: What To Make Of The Dramatic Drop In Gold Prices