A modest proposal from UBS, exquisitely timed for gold’s first foray over $900 an ounce: outlaw gold mining altogether … That was the investment bank’s shrug to a Reuters’ article about a movement to make gold more ethical. One aim is to get gold the Fairtrade Foundation stamp of approval.  This means no exploitation of miners, no more earth rape or toxic chemicals and of course more recycling.  As the satirists at UBS point out, nearly all the gold ever produced is still around somewhere, in vaults,  jewelry boxes, museums and under mattresses.  Fairtrade labelling has been a marketing boon for coffee, cocoa and other goods that have gotten on the green bandwagon. So why not gold? In fact, why stop at Fairtrade?

“Why not go further?” UBS asked “There is plenty of gold in the world as it rarely gets destroyed and can be very efficiently re-cycled. Why not outlaw gold mining as an unnecessary waste of the planet’s resources. Of course this would push the price of gold up, but with 20 years newly mined supply sitting in vaults around the world, there can be no argument for any need to mine gold.”  

Like they say about successful Quaker business owners: “they came to do good and they did very well.”