????不過，看來金價下跌對那些最著名的黃金狂熱者幾乎甚至根本沒有影響。國家地理頻道（National Geographic）真人秀節目《末日生存者》（Doomsday Preppers）執行制片人艾倫?麥迪遜就說：“一點兒影響也沒有，總之影響就是零。對他們來說，黃金的內在價值和市場波動無關。他們確實會查看（市場上的黃金價格），但大多都是在尋找買進機會。”這就是黃金狂熱者和一般黃金多方的最終區別。

????和這些黃金狂熱者關系良好的媒體和分析師都在宣揚這種無視市場的做法，兩者一直在使用的說辭包括金價跌幅很小，是買入機會，是政府陰謀所致，或者這三條理由的任意組合。貝克非常依賴政府陰謀論心態，這也成了他自己的標志。金價暴跌后，貝克宣稱“情況有些不對”，進而又說“這是有人串通一氣。讓金價處于下行狀態，以便中央銀行儲備黃金?！庇行┤吮硎咀约簺]有蒙受任何損失，他們堅持說“紙”黃金和“實物”黃金不同，這是信奉末日生存理論的黃金狂熱者的一個重要特點。麥迪遜指出：“他們都在談實物交收，而且不投資（黃金）衍生產品或基金?！弊詈笠稽c非?；闹?，一些黃金狂熱者表示，金價暴跌是通縮的預兆，挫敗了美聯儲的政策，因而印證了他們的核心觀點，即集權式政策無法控制經濟，而且我們所有人都應該為狂風暴雨的到來做好準備——其思路轉換之快就像變魔術一樣。

????這一點特別神奇，不光是因為黃金的日常價格暴跌，還因為本打算用黃金來抵御的惡性通脹也一直沒有出現，甚至是在量化寬松實施了五年之后。實際上，我們甚至都沒有看到稍高于平均水平的通脹率。據一些分析師講，這就是因為量化寬松對消費支出的影響微乎其微。

????展望未來，主流市場對黃金發出的信號依然陰晴不一。量化寬松的規模可能會下降，只是我們還不能確定它將在短期還是中期內出現。對整個市場來說，它就意味著黃金的抗通脹功能可能會變得更不重要。但如果這能讓他們更多地持有黃金，堅信大災難就要到來的黃金狂熱者似乎真的不在乎那幾個美元。麥迪遜指出：“對他們來說，復蘇是暫時的，也是難以實現的。他們的觀點是，復蘇要以我們進行借貸為基礎?！蓖浫允撬麄冄壑械难Ч砉?。茶黨成員希羅稱：“我們發現，只要不是硬資產，美聯儲的數字化印鈔行為就會削弱其價值。我們知道，房地產、貴金屬和大宗商品的價值只會上升，而貨幣的價值將下降?！?/p>

????這些想法和實際市場之間的關系很難量化。受格倫?貝克、亞歷克斯?瓊斯和羅恩?保羅影響的人非常多，但他們都是個人，而不是機構投資者。而且顯而易見的是，如果他們就是左右市場的因素，在這些人不分青紅皂白地堅持黃金是唯一可靠的保值手段的情況下，美元匯率就會一直呈上升趨勢，原因是經濟本身具有自我應驗性。與之相反，正如主流經濟學家所指出的，當前局勢表明，人們對整體經濟的信心正在增強，而且資本有希望出現“從實物到股票”的轉移，從而為人們的建設性活動提供支持。

????But it seems the decline of gold has had little or no impact on the beliefs of the most prominent extreme goldbugs. "None. Zero, zip, zilch," says Alan Madison, executive producer of National Geographic's Doomsday Preppers reality show. "Gold for them has an inherent value that is independent of market fluctuations. They do watch [the market price of gold], but mostly just for chances to purchase." Which ultimately is what separates the goldbugs from more run-of-the-mill gold bulls.

????This indifference to the market is being fed by goldbug-friendly media and analysis, which has insisted that the decline is irrelevant, a buying opportunity, the product of a government conspiracy, or some mix of the three. Relying heavily on the broader conspiracist mindset that defines him, Beck declared after the gold crash that "something doesn't smell right," further saying that "This is collusion. It is keeping the price of gold down for the sovereign central banks so they can store the gold." Some have totally dismissed the losses by insisting on the difference between "paper" gold and "real" gold, an important distinction for goldbugs of the prepper variety. "They all take physical delivery, they don't invest in [gold] derivatives or funds," says Madison. Finally and most paradoxically, some goldbugs have said that the gold crash is a harbinger of deflation, a defeat for Fed policies and therefore -- presto change-o -- a validation of their underlying thesis that centralized policy can't control the economy, and we should all prepare for Thunderdome.

????This is all particularly amazing since, not only has the daily price of gold plummeted, but the hyperinflation it is supposed to hedge against hasn't shown its face, even after five years of QE. In fact, we haven't even seen slightly above-average inflation. According to some analysts, this is simply because it has had minimal effect on consumer spending.

????Going forward, signs for gold in the mainstream market remain mixed. QE is likely headed for a taper, even if we're not yet sure whether that's in the near or middle term. This means gold's function as an inflation hedge for the broader market is likely to become less relevant. But apocalyptic goldbugs seem genuinely unconcerned with mere dollars if it makes it possible for them to hang onto more gold. According to Madison, "This recovery is temporal, elusive to them. It's based on us borrowing money, as far as they're concerned." Inflation is still the bugaboo: "The folks here recognize that the Fed's digital printing of money is reducing the value of any non-hard asset. We realize that property, precious metals, and commodities will only increase in value while currency will drop," says Tea Party member Cillo.

????It's difficult to quantify the relationship between these ideas and the real market. Glenn Beck, Alex Jones, and Ron Paul have huge combined audiences, but these are individual rather than institutional investors. And obviously, if they were market drivers in themselves, their unsubtle insistence on gold as the only decent store of value would have kept the dollar price trending upwards indefinitely as the economy itself shut down in the ultimate self-fulfilling prophecy. By contrast, as mainstream economists have pointed out, the current scenario reflects increasing faith in the overall economy and a hopeful shift of capital "from rocks to stocks" -- toward support for constructive human endeavors.