I’ve just worked out what all this cash for gold business is all about. In case you don’t watch the telly or are reading this in fifty years time, the price of gold is apparently at an all time high. This is because of the world-wide recession and there being nothing else to put your money into.

If you only watch wildlife programmes you may have missed this phenomenon, but if you watch trash and daytime TV, which I do occasionally, you will have noticed relentless advertising to turn your old gold into cash squashed in between the online bingo ads that urge you to spend all the cash you’ve just made selling your gold.

A few years ago gold was cheaper and a big fashion statement. Rappers could be seen weighed down in “Bling”. Ah, how things move on. Bling was the thing – an ostentatious show of apparent wealth – all bought on credit cards or from the dodgy bloke down the pub.

Now all that bling is being turned back into cash. I’m sure most punters only see the cash and happily take the money, unaware of the real value in their gold, either that or they are disappointed when they find that the solid gold chains they bought in the pub aren’t quite what the dodgy guy said they were.

The people buying the gold obviously have cash to spare and could make a tidy sum. trash gold is a quick cash-crop harvest – get in quick and sell before the price of gold drops again – and it will. Assets need to be worked or churned to make a profit. Hoarding can only lead to a loss in the end. The price may shoot up through scarcity value, but then it becomes a game of chicken. First one to sell makes all the profit and then the price drops. Everyone else will pile in and sell for whatever they can, forcing the price down again. The same old story.

Still, I’m glad the whole Bling Thing is over. It did make gold look so cheap.