The State Of Texas Wants Its Gold Back
By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor-At-Large
You might wonder why a state like Texas would keep its gold reserves in New York for safekeeping to begin with, but, however much sense the idea has made, historically, that has all changed: on the heels of legislative action, Texas��� gold bars���valued at about $650 million���are going to be making their way back to the Lone Star state.
The movement to bring Texas��� gold back home picked up steam with state���s previous administration, under former governor (and current GOP presidential candidate) Rick Perry, who felt that Texas could do every bit as good a job of protecting its precious assets as the Federal Reserve (although, technically, the Texas gold has actually been housed at the underground vault of HSBC Bank, adjacent to the Federal Reserve depository).
The only hitch in the plan is that Texas���which is the only U.S. state to own its own reserve of gold bars���has yet to build an actual facility for safeguarding the gold bars. The ���Texas Bullion Depository��� is the name of the yet-to-be-built safe house, but exists in name only, which means the brain trust in Texas will have to figure out this not-so-minor detail first, before any actual transfer can occur.
One of the ���aside��� conversations taking place alongside the issue of the gold���s return is that this move is one more step toward Texas ultimately deciding to secede from the rest of the country. Given Texas��� maverick reputation, it���s certainly understandable why some would ponder the connection, but, for now, it���s reasonable to assume that this move is simply about Texas wanting Texas assets within its own, direct purview.
