I recently came across an interesting historical comparison and want to discuss the periods of significant declines in gold prices.

Speaking of major drops in gold, there have actually been several quite severe instances in history. The earliest occurred in the early 1980s, from September 1980 to June 1982, when gold prices fell by 58.2% in less than two years. At that time, the main reason was that the United States and other developed countries were actively fighting inflation, leading to a sharp decline in gold demand. Additionally, the oil crisis was beginning to ease, and risk aversion sentiments also diminished.

From 1983 to early 1985, there was another major decline in gold, with a drop of 41.35%. During that period, the global economy entered what was called the "Great Moderation," with developed countries' economies starting to improve, risk events decreasing, and investor interest in gold naturally waning.

The 2008 financial crisis was also quite interesting. During the subprime mortgage crisis and the European debt crisis that followed, large capital outflows occurred, and gold prices fell by 29.5% from March to October 2008. The Federal Reserve was still raising interest rates at that time, which obviously put downward pressure on gold prices.

Then there was the relatively long downward cycle from 2012 to 2015, with gold prices dropping by 39%. The sharp decline on April 12, 2013, was particularly notable. Afterwards, large amounts of capital flooded into stocks and real estate, and demand for gold investment clearly decreased.

The most recent was in the second half of 2016, when in just five months, gold prices fell by 16.6%. At that time, investors expected the U.S. to raise interest rates, coupled with the fact that the global economy seemed to be doing well, prompting many to sell off their gold holdings.

Looking back now, all these major declines in gold share a common point — when economic outlooks improve or policy environments change, safe-haven assets tend to be sold off. Recent market shifts have also led people to start wondering: could we be on the verge of a sixth major decline? This is a question worth paying close attention to.