I would argue that it is, the flat line could be said to have tripled from the seventies to right before it took off during the current panic. If one had bought gold before the panic and held long they would most likely see the same trend as was seen from the 70's up until the panic. The thing about gold is it is subject to panic buying when currencies are debased and it is exactly the time that someone that has held long in gold should vacate there position, wait for it to implode and then double down on it again. Gold purchased at it's baseline is actually one of the best hedges available. The problem is gold goes unnoticed until there is a panic. Institutional investors ignore it because it's performance is long while others ignore it because it is not a high profile security that the institutions are chasing.