Recently, gold prices have plunged. The flagship gold ETF, SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) , fell more than 6%, while gold miner ETFs such as VanEck Gold Miners (GDX)  dropped nearly 10%. It was the steepest decline in 12 years, and the sudden shock to one of the world’s most trusted safe havens has left markets unsettled. This decline has sparked two contrasting interpretations. The first is pessimistic: that the coming crisis may be so severe that even gold cannot serve as a reliabl