[kyrsey]

No one proposes to use sheets of paper as a currency, let alone as an investment.

Treasury bonds have exchange value, not because they are paper, but because people will accept them, for the right they reliably represent; because the government is good for that debt. Gold, too, has exchange value NOT because of its chemical composition - only because people will accept it, and they accept it because they believe they will be able to trade it in the same way. If it loses half its value due to a bubble popping or the global supply increasing over time, it's no better than a currency which lost half its value due to government policy. There is always something around of value, and if the post-apocalyptic situation is bad enough then gold will be worth only a little at best, if you can even find someone selling whatever you need.

Land is an example of something which can produce, as is stock in a company which sells things that are always in demand. This was the contrast being made against the block of gold, not paper