Robin Brooks: Gold and Bitcoin increasingly track risk assets, weakening safe-haven role

Economist Robin Brooks argues that gold no longer functions as a reliable safe haven, saying it now behaves like a pro-cyclical, high-beta asset similar to Bitcoin and the S&P 500. He points to gold's correlation with the S&P 500 rising to above 0.50 in recent months, matching Bitcoin's level after BTC's equity correlation reached as high as 0.55 in late 2025 to early 2026. Brooks also attributes the shift to retail inflows tied to the heavily marketed "debasement trade" throughout late 2025.