ThatOldGuy:
I told him that the reason that gas prices were rising is inflation, citing the changes in price of a gallon of gas in terms of gold for the past decade versus the price of a gallon of gas in US dollars and Euros and his reply was that a reason why gold could be relatively constant is speculation. I replied that this speculation, if this was the case, could be due to lack of confidence in the future value of the dollar (due to inflation) so that his point is understood, but not quite what he seemed to be implying (i.e. it’s all the speculators’ fault).
Did I explain it correctly? Is there a better way to state that inflation is the culprit (I plan to read all the sources you posted above- I wouldn’t be surprised if the answer is contained in a link above and I just haven’t read it yet)?
Well, kind of. Either way though, I doubt your answer got to the crux of his argument in his mind, which is basically that “evil speculators” are what drives price increases.
Sorry to bombard you again, but see here