Gold Prices at $1,500: Will They Go Up or Down?

Gold is trading at $1,500, an important psychological level and near the all-time nominal high. Whether or not gold will go to new heights largely depends on monetary policy, according to some experts.

There are those who think the era of extraordinary expansionary monetary policy is over and gold probably won't go much higher. Hedge fund manager David Tepper told CNBC that it'll take the unlikely event of a market crash before the Federal Reserve rolls out QE3.

'Bond King' Jeffrey Gundlach doesn't think it'll come either, according to a Business Insider interview. He thinks the end of QE2 likely marks the end of Federal Reserve money printing.

On the other hand, Jim Rogers, a long-time commodities bull, famously said Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke doesn't understand the markets. The only thing he knows to do, said Rogers, is print money.

Rogers believes QE3 will inevitably come when the US economy runs out of steam. It just won't immediately follow QE2 and will probably go by a different name.

John Paulson and Andrew Hall, also gold bulls, have an alternate theory and think inflation can rise and gold can soar even if there is no QE3, according to the WSJ.

Indeed, inflation can spike absent QE3 for a variety of reasons. Through QE1 and QE2, the Federal Reserve has already supplied the monetary kindle to higher inflation. Moreover, low interest rates of 0.25 percent alone supply enough liquidity to induce a lending binge and sharply increase the monetary supply through the fractional-reserve banking system.

Lastly, a sharp decline in the value of the US dollar would accelerate inflation and push up the relative value of the gold.

Ultimately, whether gold goes up or down from $1,500 depends on whether or not the US government and Federal Reserve know what they're doing. If they successfully steer the economy and inflation to desired levels, gold will likely remain stagnant.

If inflation soars or QE3 rears its head, gold will see new heights.