Gold is trading at record highs.

Gold can be a predictor of difficult times in both the U.S. and global economy. Some people buy it as a hedge against inflation, but that’s not the only reason why it’s currently trading at record highs.

Dr. Tim Nash, an economist and director for the McNair Center at Northwood University, says a lot of the price is driven by demand for high tech. But since 2000, economic problems have also played a major part.

“We’ve had 9-11, we’ve had the Great Recession, we’ve had the COVID-19 recession,” Nash said. “Today we’re worried about the Middle East, we’re worried about Ukraine-Russia, we’re worried about the Taiwan Straits between China and Taiwan. All these things coupled together make up, I think, much of the rest of the increase.”

To give an example of gold’s growth in that same time, the Nasdaq has grown about 340%, Dow Jones about 250%, but but gold is up over 1,000%.