Another Anti-Gold Howler from Nouriel Roubin

Nouriel Roubini continues his attack on gold:

Roubini tweeted:

Gold can be & has been endlessly debased thru history

@Room747 responded:

Gold can be debased under Gov coinage. You couldn't do this with private coinage.

Roubini replied:

Debasement under private coinage is even easier

@Room747 responded with a Murray Rothbard quote and link identifying gold debasement linked to government:

Debasement was the State's method of counterfeiting the very coins it had banned private firms from making in the name of vigorous protection of the monetary standard. Sometimes, the government committed simple fraud, secretly diluting gold with a base alloy, making shortweight coins. More characteristically, the mint melted and recoined all the coins of the realm, giving the subjects back the same number of "pounds" or "marks," but of a lighter weight. The leftover ounces of gold or silver were pocketed by the King and used to pay his expenses. In that way, government continually juggled and redefined the very standard it was pledged to protect. The profits of debasement were haughtily claimed as "seniorage" by the rulers.

Just how Roubini claims that gold has been debased under private coinage to such a degree  is undoubtedly a head scratcher for @Room747, since the key to government debasement is the fact that governments make their debased coins legal tender, not something private minters can do. It is very easy to test gold and weigh it, and refuse to accept bad private coins.  Merchants on 47th Street in Manhattan do it on a daily basis.

Debasement is a government business. It is very difficult to do without the strong arm of government forcing people to accept debased coins.

@Room747 correctly links to the definition of Gresham's Law:

Gresham's law is an economic principle "which states that when government compulsorily overvalues one money and undervalues another, the undervalued money will leave the country or disappear from circulation into hoards, while the overvalued money will flood into circulation."

Roubini has not responded.