The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition that investors, money managers and central banks across the world have piled into gold this year, pushing its price about 50 per cent higher and setting a series of records in the process. A New York Times dispatch to The Globe says that gold is approaching $4,000 an ounce for the first time. Gold is on course for its best year since 1979, when prices surged over 100 per cent during a period of high inflation, a depreciating dollar and a geopolitical crisis in the Middle East. There are uncomfortable echoes of that past as investors look to shift away from U.S. assets at a time of political upheaval and uncertainty, highlighted by the government shutdown. The gold rally also reflects a strong undercurrent of unease among investors, even as stocks are at all-time highs. Gold has also attracted buyers because other traditional havens, such as the dollar and U.S. government bonds, have lost some of their allure. The U.S. dollar has slumped roughly 10 per cent this year. The rally in gold has been largely driven by uncertainty, said Ryan McIntyre at Sprott. "Whether that is geopolitical, economic or now there is the interest-rate cycle entering people's minds," he said.