Seems counterintuitive that gold would fall in a crisis.
You seem to have a very naive view of how the markets work. Indeed, much of the 'wealth' you describe is an illusion resulting from QE. But you're right about a crash (which may be imminent--'tis the season after all) killing pension and other funds.
As for the current action, foolish investors are seeking 'safe haven' in the dollar and bonds after Bernanke showed his losing hand. Gold is the anti-dollar and with the spike in the dollar index, gold dropped. Look at yesterday's chart to see the timing following the FOMC announcement.
Gold was consolidating and from a technical vantage the drop is actually welcome, especially for buyers. If the banksters weren't buying gold hand over fist right now, the price would have dropped by hundreds of dollars. Bonds and dollar are beginning to look 'toppy' and will present a very nice opportunity for shorting soon.
We ain't seen nothin' yet both with regard to stock market decline and gold rising. The DOW will decline below 10000 and gold will rise above $2000 sooner rather than later.
Listen to this interview with Jim Willie--the Golden Jackass: http://www.contraryinvestorscafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/08252011willie.mp3

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