Gold in Modern Economy

The article studies the role of gold in modern economy. It analyses dynamics and modern state of the gold market. It studies volumes of contracts in exchange and off-exchange markets. In order to reveal changes of key features of the gold market, it focuses on the study of gold demand volumes, studies volumes and geographical changes in the world gold mining, and analyses volumes of monetary gold of central banks and its share in gold and currency reserves. It analyses price fluctuations in the gold market during 1968 - 2013 and identifies main factors that determine the gold price. It identifies interconnection between the state of the gold market and financial markets of countries. The study showed that namely geopolitical and economic instability restricts the spectrum of financial assets for investing and gold is not only a safe investment object but also a profitable one.