Eli5: Why is gold considered to be inherently valuable?

Question

I hear some economics arguing that currency should be pegged to gold as a way of ensuring that its value isn’t arbitrary / volatile but I don’t understand how this would solve the problem. I understand that gold is a scarce resource that is difficult to mine but is it this alone that gives it intrinsic value ?

In: 115

Answer 1

Neil deGrasse Tyson just did a great video on how much energy is needed to make a gold and how it’s one of the hardest to make elements. I’ll try to find the link later to post if anyone’s interested. Really puts it into perspective