With the price of gold hitting new records and pulling back sharply, is it a bubble or a sign of some profound, broader change in the global financial landscape? While the answer is anyone’s guess, history does offer some clues.

I have held remarkably contradictory views about the staggering rise in gold prices this year, especially following the recent sharp reversal. On one hand, I would not be surprised if the dip turns out to be the beginning of the end of the rally. On the other hand, I sympathise with those holding the opposite view - that the pullback is merely a brief correction to what remains a powerful tr...