Evening Must-Read: Paul Krugman: Recession, Recovery, and Gold

…the usual suspects told us to run for the hills, buying gold along the way. Zimbabwe! Or, actually, not…. Gold prices are down…. Why they were high in the first place[:] Gold is not, in fact, a hedge against inflation. It’s something people buy when real returns on alternative assets are low…. Gold went up as real interest rates turned negative, thanks to a depressed economy…. As recovery has gathered strength, real rates have gone up and gold has gone down…