It would be charming for the good Dr. Krugman to explain why the largest single gold hoard in the world (>8,000 metric tons) is still owned by the U.S. government - if "obviously" the nation's wealth simply comes off a printing press.

In fact, as I understand it, the U.S. government made the dollar a fully *fiat* currency in the late 1960s, precisely to prevent more of that gold hoard from flowing overseas.  :-/  Looks like our fiscal/monetary masters at the highest level want to have it both ways.