Scientists in Europe have just accomplished what humans have been trying to do for centuries: they successfully turned lead into gold. Using the Large Hadron Collider, a giant particle accelerator, they were able to knock certain protons out of lead atoms, converting them into gold atoms. Scientists were able to create 89 million gold atoms per second, ultimately creating 86 billion gold atoms over a three-year period.

While that sounds like a lot, you would need three trillion times that amount to make even the smallest piece of jewelry. Also, the gold atoms only survived for a few seconds before disintegrating. It is also unclear how much it cost the scientists to produce the gold they did. It is unlikely that the new technology will be a commercially viable method of creating gold for many years. But if it is successfully commercialized, the future might be heralded in another Gilded Age.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Suppose a country produces two goods: food and gold. How will this new technology affect the country’s Production Possibilities Frontier? Draw a graph to illustrate this.
  2. If technology becomes commercially viable, what will happen to the equilibrium price and quantity of gold?