两年多来,黄金价格之下跌不可谓不惨。它曾于1980年1月21日上升到最高峰,每盎司为850美元;其后跌跌爬爬,但基本趋势是下降,到了今年3月12日,只值323.25美元一盎司了(参见图表),到3月17日,又曾跌到312.50美元。这种跌势使产金、持金和售金者,不是吃亏,就是发慌。为什么金价如此一蹶不振呢?经济专家们议论纷纷,大体可归结为如下几个原因。一般地说,由于整个资本主义世界的经济衰退,人们资金短缺,收入减少(且不说失业者),购买力削弱,这对一切商品都是不利的。黄金当然也不能例外,有余力购贮黄金者则更趋减少。促使金价下跌的另一个重要原因是原油价格下跌。一些石油富国,在油价上涨的年代里,一直是黄金的大买主。主要是它们,把金价哄抬得高高的。可是近一年多来,石油供过于求,油价一跌再跌。那些石油输出国受到财政紧缩的压力,或停止购买或少买黄金,有些甚至把黄金抛售到国际市场上去,以换取美元或其他外币来弥补财政支出。例如,石油输出国 For more than two years, the decline in the price of gold is not bad. It rose to the highest peak on January 21, 1980, at 850 US dollars per ounce; then it fell and climbed, but the basic trend was to decline. On March 12 this year, it was only worth 323.25 US dollars an ounce (see chart ) On March 17, it fell to 312.50 US dollars again. This kind of downtrend makes the production of gold, holdings and sales of gold, not to lose or to panic. Why is the price of gold so gloomy? Economic experts have been talking about one after another, which can be summed up in the following reasons. Generally speaking, due to the economic recession of the entire capitalist world, people are short of funds, income is reduced (not to mention the unemployed), and purchasing power is weakened, which is unfavorable to all commodities. Of course, gold cannot be an exception. Those who have the spare capacity to purchase and store gold are even less. Another important reason for the decline in the price of gold is the drop in the price of crude oil. Some oil-rich countries have been big buyers of gold in the era of rising oil prices. It is mainly because they lift the price of gold high. However, over the past year or so, oversupply of oil has caused oil prices to fall again and again. Those oil-exporting countries have been pressured by fiscal tightening, or have stopped buying or buying less, and some have even sold gold to the international market in exchange for US dollars or other foreign currencies to make up for their fiscal expenditures. For example, oil exporting countries