Paper money and gold exist as partners in an ongoing cycle because governments favor money. (Why not, they can print it)

Eventually, they print so much that it becomes noticeable to all and a phase change happens. Paper money falls out of favor and gold corrects its price to reflect the amount of paper in circulation.

Gold is always fighting a losing battle against paper because it is not the government's fair haired stepchild. But about every 30 years or so, the forces become so great against the government's paper that gold claws its way back up in value after the recognition and phase change takes place. After it has adjusted it sits there and awaits its next adjustment.

Paper has run for quite a while and gone over the top once again. It is time for gold to adjust to the amount of paper in the system. The amount of paper in the system this time is unimaginable, though some is currently being destroyed. Gold will correct in an equally unimaginable way and then sit there and do nothing after it completes its run for another 30 years or so. Gold's job is to catch up to the paper that already exists so gold and gold miners do exceptionally well in inflationary periods.

Oddly though, gold does reasonably well in deflationary times too because any time the monetary system gets in trouble people turn to what is real. Unbacked paper money is not real. Unbacked paper money is a promise to pay someone with another promise to pay, etc. ad infinitum. Paper money is a joke (a form of Ponzi scheme) and a rather sick one when you consider the character of the one offering the promise, namely governments and banks. People are just now beginning to awaken to that fact. After gold has had its day, irrespective of the governments desire to suppress it, then it will be paper's time once again (for another 30 years or so).

P.