A Not-So-Golden Paradox
One is always surprised at the preoccupation with gold, the infatuation, craze and passion for the yellow metal in India, and elsewhere. The WGC (goldDOTorg. Ha Ha.) happily encourages any and all kinds of marketing gimmicks, including the kind about which Raji ranted in blessed-if-you-buy-jewellery-day . Staying in Kerala, you simply cannot avoid lengthy TV commercials and full-page newspaper ads by gold 'supermarkets' (how vulgar that sounds!). Nor can you miss seeing driver-distracting, really loud hoardings and flex boards. Since women model the trinkets, it seems as though the model, the ad agency and the advertiser are happy to cover much more of the skin with metal than with cloth. You will end up wondering if metal looks best without other wear around hindering the view. So there is demand. And there are sales. Implies that people have money to acquire that metal. The number of gold loan sources is also up. Both banks and NBFC's. One implication is that gold lo...