The world gets silver from silver mines, and what governments and people sell. In 2008, supply crossed 28,500 tonnes. Silver mines accelerate production when prices are attractive. People and governments too sell their family silver when prices are attractive. When prices plummeted after the financial crisis last year, scrap sales plummeted too. But the world also gets a huge quantity of silver as a by-product of lead, zinc, copper and gold mines.

Many pundits point to the recent surge in gold prices as a temporary phenomenon and that once the U.S. economy gets back to growth mode, gold prices will retreat. But what if this takes longer than we think? What will this do to our dollar and gold prices?

Unlike gold, silver is becoming scarcer because it is used in so many various products such as cell phones, flat screen televisions, batteries, bearings, soldering, catalysts, photography and solar energy production. Silver is used in such small amounts in the various electronic devices that it is not economical to try and recycle the silver used in the component