You would expect gold, as a purported commodity, and inflation to move in tandem. The data, going back to 1978 and capturing an inflationary spike, shows a correlation of, at most, 0.08. That is low. Really low.
Gold’s price doesn’t move with inflation; it moves against the dollar:
Going back to 1973 — a period that defines the modern, non-gold-backed dollar — the greenback’s movements closely track gold’s direction. The correlation between month-end gold prices and the Major Currencies Dollar Index, as reported by the Federal Reserve, is –0.45. [...] Over the past 30 years, the correlation between the dollar and gold is –0.65 — a high negative correlation. It means the dollar and gold are effectively on opposite ends of a seesaw.
Gold isn’t a commodity; it’s a currency.