Hedge Against Disorder

When the walls come crumblin' down
When the walls come crumblin,' crumblin'
When the walls come tumblin,' tumblin'
Crumblin, tumblin' down
--John Cougar Mellencamp

What Paul Singer is saying here is that gold is a hedge against disorder. While disorder could have many causes, it manifests in systems of exchange and wealth preservation. The properties of gold have made it the preferred choice of managing risk of disorder for thousands of years.

As trust in institutions goes down, the value of gold goes up.

position in gold