Alexander- gold was at rock bottom prices, he announced he was selling and drove the price down further. It is also on record that he was advised not to sell it. This is very basic stuff. There are few times when you can call the bottom of the market and that, for gold, was one of them.
Economists are not the people who are qualified to provide that advice anyway and were not the people who advised him, commodity market experts fed advice via the Treasury. Economists are not investment experts while investment advisers of various types do need to know about economics.... we all have our disciplines.
Incidentally - the book Fantasy Island was published in May 2007 and it did predict the crisis. I do not agree with all it said but a lot of what it contained was spot on. The book was well received by both the right and left, having in it something for everyone, whether Thatcherite Monetarists and Kenyseyan socialists... It was co-written by the economic editors of the Guardian and the Mail!!!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fantasy-Island-Larry-Elliott/dp/1845296052/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1361220154&sr=1-1