For now, all that glitters is only gold

Gold's spectacular rise over the past decade has seen its price climb from $256 per ounce in 2001 to more than $1,900 at its recent peak before sliding a little. In the early stages the main driver was the boom in emerging economies. Rapidly rising incomes increased the demand for gold as a status symbol and store of wealth at a time when the supply of newly mined gold was struggling to keep up.