For many reasons, gold has been used throughout recorded history as a store of wealth, and is valued as such all over the world. Gold is an important component of telephones, computers, the space shuttle, jet engines, dentistry, various medical applications and as an effective energy saving window coating, to name a few of its applications. The use which usually comes to mind is in jewelry. This use is considered worldwide as a store of value for the holder, and in some societies is the chief means of long term financial security. For example, in India when a women marries, all of the gold she has on her person at the marriage ceremony is considered hers forever and can never be taken away from her by her husband or taxed by the government.
Gold is traded on the world market, and the United States is a net exporter of gold.
This means that jobs stay in the United States, gold is exported, and trade dollars come back to the United States to offset the trade deficit. The gold mining industry is responsible for more than 86,000 jobs in the United States and annually contributes more than half a billion dollars in federal, state, and local income taxes.