Many analysts have attempted to value gold in other ways, such as by assuming a constant ratio between the gold price and consumer prices, personal incomes, the amount of U.S. dollars in circulation or the value of the world's financial assets.

WSJ: Upside: The Great Gold Divide: Which Side Are You On?

"If an ant heap is a meter high over ground, which is to say, about 3 feet, it's probably digging up material from three to four meters below, so you can collect samples from those ant heaps, " said Mr. Petzer, who says that is a constant ratio.

WSJ: In Geology, Old-Timers Can Be Worth Their Weight in Gold

The 10-to-1 employee to business ratio has remained constant.

FORBES: Google Apps Is Making Microsoft Poorer, Adding 1 Million Users Per Month

If the ratio of broad to base money were constant, such fears would be warranted.

ECONOMIST: Policy in a recession