Is a return to the Gold Standard a good idea?
If confidence in fiat currencies erodes there will be little left other than a Gold Standard to restore faith in the monetary system.
Currencies have been insidiously transformed in the last 100 years from a representation of real money, fully backed and exchangeable for Gold, to its present form, a Note that is nothing more than a promise of the American people to repay its debt in the future. Unfortunately there are only three ways to extinguish the debt, which is now greater than its GDP: bond holders accepting losses, deep and politically devastating spending cuts, devaluation of the Dollar (re:inflation) or a combination of the three. The most likely scenario is the debt will simply be inflated away resulting in a great loss in confidence in the Dollar as the World's reserve currency. Other nations are already advancing discussions for a new monetary system to replace the Dollar. A return to a currency backed by a tangible commodity seems the most logical means to gain worldwide acceptance in the Dollar's replacement. Central Banks, especially China are net buyers of Gold. This is perhaps the greatest sign that Gold backing is a good idea, but somethings that is already in the works.
Posted by: UncleGeekIt reduces corruption
It stops the top dudes printing money, which breeds corruption! Why would they care if they make a mistake if they can just print more money? If you bring back the gold standard they have to be accountable for their mistakes, you will soon see a change in their attitude then!
Posted by: AnonymousUse of the gold standard would eliminate the problem of monetary inflation.
The current world financial situation, especially that of the United States of America, has been severely marred by the phenomenon of monetary inflation. Relying on paper currency with nothing to back it up (for instance, a precious metal) means that a government has control over how much money circulates and how much each bill is worth. Since there is a finite amount of gold in the world, money would have a fixed and understandable value under the gold standard.
Posted by: enygmaticalThis change would allow our money to be backed by something real, not something imaginary.
If we used the gold standard to create our money, we could get away from this imaginary money system. Right now our money is not truly worth anything, the only thing that gives it value is the Treasury saying that they will back it up. How do we know the Treasury can or will even do that if it comes right down to it? If all our money was backed by gold then it would have something real making it more real. This would probably make people use it a lot more wisely.
Posted by: MariaRReturning to the Gold Standard is a good idea, because of the current state of the economy.
The state of the economy has made it very clear that the dollar is no longer the stable option it once was. The recession and the global financial crisis, to an extent, were effects of a badly regulated economic order and have shown the U.S. Government to be ineffectual. That being the case, the ubiquity and strength of the U.S. dollar is not just suspect, but worrying. The Gold Standard is a lot safer and dependable in the short term, and will prevail for generations and centuries to come.
Posted by: BrownSamuel79Yes ,because our government is stealing from us
Gold is a good pay as you go method and doesnt hurt us long term,eventually we will need to pay that debt back,and that's not happening by printing more money keeping that bogus game going,we need to liquithate all debt and be done with it.
Posted by: AnonymousI support a return to the gold standard because our fiat currency is too prone to inflation.
In terms of pure numbers, what cost $1 in 1913 would cost $22.82 today. We have had a cumulative inflation rate of 2182 percent in nearly 100 years. The US currency was taken off the gold standard in 1933, and obviously this has not curbed inflation. Pegging our currency to a tangible source is one of many ways to protect it against inflation.
Posted by: ErvinAnimeThe gold standard prevents the debasement of money for political purposes and stabilizes business cycles.
The gold standard is the simple idea that every unit of currency is backed by a corresponding amount of gold. When this actually happens, over time money increases only in proportion with the amount of gold that is mined. Since gold is rare, expensive to uncover, and durable, this keeps the supply of money relatively constant. It also means that over time prices will tend to naturally fall, rather than the inflation to which we are accustomed. New technology makes the gold standard feasible in new and complex ways which can expand upon the traditional model and make it even more efficient.
Posted by: CarMjThe problem with 'salted' plated Tungsten gold bars outlines the universally known need for hard currency.
International trade is done in gold and gold bars because we have never left the Gold Standard, not the people at the top of the exchange. What we mostly need to do is return real money not fiat money to the ordinary working people. Real money is what people think that they are working for, but they aren't. They are being cheated, especially by the devaluation of the currencies we use.
Posted by: groovyboxReturning to the gold standard in the United States is a good idea because we would then have something tangible to back our money.
The United States should return to the gold standard so that we have something tangible backing our currency. The Federal Reserve is an illegal institution because the Constitution says there shall be no federal bank. The Fed is also privately owned and these people took all our gold and gave us useless paper money in return. Nothing much is backing our currency except the back breaking work of the American people.
Posted by: Nik0InteriorI believe it is a good idea to return to the gold standard.
I think that if we as a country moved back to the gold standard, it may be able to help us out in this time of depression. We have moved so far from the gold standard it seems. I think that if we knew our money was worth a certain amount, because we have that much money worth in gold, it would help us in not spending what we do not have. I also think it would be a great way for the government to get help in this money problem situation.
Posted by: 5h4rdEgbeA Gold and/or Silver Standard a Great Idea!
Although I lean toward to a strict Silver Standard, any monetary standard is better than none. This can only happen with Congress ousting the FED, once and for all. My reason for saying this is that silver is no way controlled by the powers that be like gold is, as it hasn't nearly all been mined. So, the return to a Silver Standard is even a better idea! Most of the remaining gold on Earth that hasn't been mined yet is beneath the ocean floors. If it has not been done already, I am quite sure that some very intelligent individuals will invent a brilliant method to extract gold from beneath the ocean floors, but will need to borrow money to do it. Let's face it, what bank, at a risky interest rate, wouldn't loan these entrepreneurs money, only to steal the idea as collateral, if it fails the first time - that's likely to happen? (Like the inventor (entrepreneur) has ever done anything like that before... please). But if we did return to a Gold Standard, at least then, our post 1933 and 1971 born citizens will have a clue as to what an increase in the price of gold really means - simply an increase in the money supply. Most of us today can barely afford to buy ounces of gold. Why is that? Prior to and during the combination of LBJ's Vietnam War and his Great Society, the average Blue Collar American could afford to visit a doctor and pay the doctor in cash. But after Nixon ended the direct convertibility of the dollar to gold on August 15, 1971 and the creation of his Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs), the average Blue Collar American began to find it difficult to pay a doctor in cash as HMOs, coupled with inflation began to take its toll. So by the time Pres. Ford, on 31-Dec-1974, made it legal for Americans to finally be able buy gold coin and bullion again, it was too late. It was way too late because of inflation, hence more difficult to buy it by then. Funny how that works! Had JFK's Executive Order 11110 and the printing of Silver Certified Dollars stuck - taking away some of the FEDs stranglehold, we'd be in a lot better situation as the government wouldn't have been able to borrow as recklessly as they have, especially since 1980, as we went from being a creditor nation to a debtor nation! Just a few thoughts!
Posted by: fredagenerInflation steals from everyone a little at a time. Gold is a natural control.
Limiting a currency to a fixed exchange ratio to something that cannot be cloned, grown or manufactured limits the devaluation of a currency through devaluation. The government could secure new gold stocks from mining to allow more secured money to be printed, but it cannot simply print more money to pay its debt. If gold is unfeasible, a gold and silver exchange could be used to broaden the gold standard to cover existing money.
Posted by: Pir4AndOur money is Worthless.
If we were ever to lose federal reserve currency, why would people want to trade with us when all we can give them are meaningless slips of paper? We truly need to back our currency with something or it will cause horrible problems to the upcoming generation. That is my opinion.
Posted by: AnonymousWe should return to the gold standard because our money needs to be backed by a tangible asset.
Right now, US currency is essentially monopoly money. It is backed by the promise of the government and nothing else. It is printed out of thin air and the only thing that guarantees its value it the appearance of other currency and the good will of the US government. We should return to the Gold standard because our money needs to have a solid backing just in case the worst case scenario plays out politics wise.
Posted by: R3ubHockeyYes, History has proven this method to work.
Gold has been around before the time of Christ and been the backbone of economies for thousands of years. Gold may fluctiate in value, but it will never hit zero like the fiat money can. Buying power can not be killed therefor a collapse in economy would not happen. The same goes for silver despite the buying power difference.
Posted by: AnonymousYes, it would help our economy.
Backing the US dollar by gold once again would roughly put gold at $2,800 an ounce. This would have short term effects for our economy, but overall is the quickest way to stabilize our deficit. When our dollar is backed by gold, economic growth is slower than in a fiat system, but it is safer.
Posted by: AnonymousI think its a great idea that the money we use would be backed up with gold.
I approve of the gold standard. It means that we have the gold to back up what is spent, either by the government or the people. In a non-gold standard society, if you need more money, you print more, which could screw up the economy to the point where the dollar or any type of money becomes completely worthless. There is only a set amount of gold on this planet- you cannot make more of that.
Posted by: WeberCraziiGold fluctuates, but not as much as currency in these times.
A country working to inflate and deflate is currency will alter the value of another countries out of sheer fact that they are. By encouraging the gold standard, the value of the money would be more consistent in a up down market that we have today. The countries that do take it up, know they cant rely on other countries stabilizing to safe their own.
Posted by: BearGold is real money, and as such has a definite value.
Gold has always been used as currency because it has a value. A fiat currency lacks that backing, and is prone to government manipulation.
A return to the gold standard would halt inflation. The government would no longer be able to print money at will if that money needed to be backed by a specific quantity of gold.
Although the number of dollars needed to buy gold today is higher than it was in the past, that same amount of gold will buy almost an equivalent amount of property. That shows that the value of things is not increasing, only the supply of dollars. Gold has held its value, and a return to the gold standard would create a more stable currency.Posted by: RanseYouhaveINFLATION LOW !
The main advantage of a return to the gold standard would be price stability in the long-term. At present, we are experiencing increasing levels of inflation which world governments cannot handle. The rate of inflation is far higher than the interest offered by a regular savings account. In effect, the real value of our money is falling by the day.
With the gold standard, high inflation is extremely rare. In theory, our money would retain value and we would get a higher level of goods and services for our money. We will only see high inflation under the gold standard if a huge new source of gold is found or if war ruins a huge part of the country like it did to the South during the American Civil War.
We are in an era where major governments like the US and UK have issued Quantitative Easing measures. In layman’s terms, this means the process of printing more paper money. When too much fiat currency is being printed (and the US Federal Reserve is estimated to have issued $3 trillion worth of Quantitative Easing in the last 18 months), the prices of goods and services increase rapidly. The gold standard would severely limit the ability of a government to inflate prices in this manner.Posted by: AnonymousEnd the Fed!
Yes, it would make our government more responsible on their spending, we don't only need to be backed by gold but need to get rid of the Federal Reserve, who prints money out of thin air. Have the U.S. Treasury print the notes, get the Fed totally out of the equation, just like Andrew Jackson did "for they are a den of vipers." The Federal Reserve is the reason we are in the trouble we are in. The people also need to know that when the Fed was stuck in Dec. 23rd 1913, when most senators were home with their families, not long after that, the income tax was brought in. We the American citizens were put up for collateral, the Federal Reserve, which is a central bank that has had foreign ties from the very beginning and still does. We pay the interest on the national debt that the Fed causes, for there is immediate debt on every dollar printed. In 2011 we income tax payers payed about half a trillion dollars just on interest that we should not be paying anyway, and wouldn't if the U.S. Treasury would print the money. The fed is unconstitutional, we have strayed so far from what we once were. The government is owned by the corporations and the Federal Reserve, that goes for both parties Democrat & Republicans. The Libertarians are the only ones speaking the truth, but the news propaganda, & their own parties try to make them look bad so people won't pay them any attention. You have to find the truth about the libertarians on the internet (YouTube) or wherever.
Posted by: AnonymousIt could help the issues government is having with money.
Yes, I think it is a good idea. It could greatly help with the money issues the United States is having at the moment. If everybody hands over the gold they would just throw away and allow the Gold Standard system to work, it could.
Posted by: NollBadRobtal
Return to gold or precious metal standard could be worked so that it would not be a locked non moveable limit. But could act like a temperance valve to stop the uncontrolled money printing that is destroying world currency value for middle class. It could be a modulating influence voted on by congress and senate and not just a free print baby print banker influenced activity.
Posted by: AnonymousThe gold standard is the only way we can truly become free again.
The fiat money that this country has created is nothing more than just paper created by a shadow Federal Reserve owned and operated by a government that uses political favors to exist. We had many fewer problems when our money had real value associated with it. Gold is raising in price every day due to the fact that it is solid and can be used as real money. We are nothing more than slaves to other countries without this happening, and our debt will continue to grow, with bonds decreasing in value day in and day out.
Posted by: C4rrFinaII agree that we should return to the Gold Standard, i think its a more credible way to deal monetarily.
Gold is a very clear unit of exchange. Every understand its value. Gold has been one of the consistent units of exchange. I think that gold is universal recognizable and desired. Using the Gold Standard will give an economy backing power and, make that country a power source. If the value of the dollar is set on the value of gold then the dollar amount would in turn become more valuable. When you know that your money is being backed by a credible backing you feel a little more secure with your earnings.
Posted by: C0ImEIiteThe excess debt will be reduced
Lets look at an example of a household. A household earns "x" amount of money every month. They spend around "1.05 x" every month. They borrow the remaining "0.05 x" from outside. Now, this happens every month. The household keeps on borrowing, borrowing & borrowing without paying its debt. Basically household has two rational options: either increase the income or decrease the expenses. But household does nothing. This case is similar to that of USA. Consider the fact of amount of external debt US has. It is around $17 trillion. Now how on earth are they going to reduce the debt while they are budgetary deficit nation? The only possible solution to pay off the debt is printing more amount of notes which will eventually devaluate $ further. What we need is a system based on current as well as Gold standard. It should not be so rigid on Gold Standard that 1929 event occurs again, but at the same time it also should not be so lenient that a nation's debt increases to such an extent.
Posted by: patelharsh1The Gold Standard would be a great start in stabilizing our money system.
Once upon a time, our money was backed by gold. Our coins were made with silver. The metal value of a silver quarter could still buy you almost $6 worth of goods today, which is about the same items many decades ago. Taking the country off of the gold standard allowed our government and the central bank to print as much fiat currency as they desire. That's why prices have been going up in this country, and what it really means is that our money is losing purchasing power. The only way to stabilize our money is by backing it with a hard asset, such as gold. Gold always has value, unlike paper money, which was once redeemable for it's equivalent in gold. People run to gold (and silver) in hard times because they understand that it is real money, and it always has been.
Posted by: gwynisinIt would stop the false inflation of a money, the printing of money that is backed by nothing at all.
Money has become almost meaningless. It is not based on anything real; it can be printed and used whether or not there is something of value to back it up. With the gold standard, there was only enough money printed that could be backed by the value of the gold the US held. This was a wise way to do things, it meant the money had actual value. Now it has little or no value, which is why gold is so high. It is priced in US dollars, which are now not worth much.
Posted by: 54IInfernoYes, I agree that the return to the Gold Standard is a good idea, because of the condition of the U.S. economy.
Yes, I agree that the return to the Gold Standard is a good idea, because of the condition of the U.S. economy. I t may seem like an archaic idea, but it worked, back in the day. Plus, this is natural control, because paper money leads to inflation, which robs a little from everyone.
Posted by: SecondNoel50
tHE GOLD STANDARD DID NOT WORK AND WILL NOT WORK AND HERE IS WHY
The problem with the economy is not the gold standard. Did you know they did debase the currency in history, when gold and silver were money. They ended up using only silver then they reduced the amount of silver in the coins. They did it in Roman times , they debase the coins in England. Hello! Americans used to have a dollar make of 90% silver. It is not the case anymore. Why? It`s called expediancy. People in charge in your country decide to do what they like even if it is bad for the economy.
The real cause of the economic mess we are in is because there is a minority who live by their own rules which are different from the rules put apon everybody else. Your jobs have been sent to Asia. Your wages have not folloed inflation. They replaced full time jobs by part time temporaty jobs. Most workers don`t have a pension found anymore . Your country is becoming a third world country before your own eyes. Can`t you see it?
They did not get the women out of the kitchen into the work place, to emansipate them. They did it to have more workers and to reduce wages and tax more people. It`s all about money, and pressing the human worker lemon for more juice for the buck. That`s the bottom line.
The economic changes that happened over decades and the changes they are imposing on you are to shape our society in a way you cannot beegin to immagine.
The gold standard is a distraction. It cannot fix anything. It is a matter of moral values. If a few opress the many, denying the workers sufficient living wages the society cannot work.
Money is a representation of your swet. You must preserve the value of the currency. If you devalue the currency you are rubbing the people. The devaluation of currency is like telling you that your work is worth nothing. You could buy a nice car for 10 thousand dollar years ago, now the sane car cost 20 thousand dollars. What happened? It means that if you did put 10 thousand dollars aside to buy that car you can no longer aford it because someone has devalued your money by making the decision that you have to pay more and more to buy the same things. In these conditions why would you save money that will be devalued so much. Today people who are luckey anough to have an ordinary pension plan do not make anough to retire. In many cases the employes paied their dues, but the employers did not contribute what they were suposed to. Some fouonds were totaly scraped.
No, it is not a question of precious metal as backup of the currency. This explanation is simplistic and inacurate. The big picture is called greed, and dishonesty, economic immorality.
I hope this brings a bit of light to the situation.Posted by: AnonymousReturn of the Gold Standard is not a good idea, as it encourages the public to hoard gold.
If we return to a Gold Standard during a recession, the public will hoard gold in an effort to provide personal economic security. Hoarding gold will only falsely increase the value of gold. Returning to the Gold Standard is not a sound economic plan, due to lingering of the current recession.
Posted by: HugeGilberto52No, it won't work.
One cannot simply change the value of an industry. This would take away from an industry that is established. If you take away that, there will be angry producers and massive layoffs. If you compare potatoes to gold you would note that Americans use a lot of potatoes. From these potatoes, 16 trillion of them are owed to someone else and the farmers have to keep track of them. Changing the value of a potato won't keep any farmer happy.
Posted by: AnonymousBasing our economy now on the Gold Standard would be impossible to accomplish and is very outdated at this point.
The Gold Standard made sense when we were operating by use of gold as a currency. Paper money was just a convenience that was represented by gold. Now that notion is very outdated, and would most likely be impossible to re-establish. Our current monetary system is complex and unfortunately we have came a long way from a bar of gold being the value behind our money.
Posted by: babydoll93There is a REASON we have fiat currency
We use a fiat currency because we NEED to be able to control the units of currency per population in a given region. An excess of liquid currency gives rise to inflation, a shortage deflation. We already know that population rises exponentially. We also know that wealth accumulates. Both of these factors will inevitably lead to shortages in the currency supply that cannot be remedied unless you have the ability to print more money. This is why the gold standard was abolished in most of the world. Its not a conspiracy.
Posted by: AnonymousWe should work through our current economic problems, rather than abandoning our current currency rates and distribution.
In a time of economic crisis, we should not be looking to future possibilities for our exchange rates and methods of currency, but rather we should use each and every day as implementing a step in the right direction for our economy. Right now, unemployment rates are beginning to go back down very slowly, but are still extremely high throughout the country. I feel that the Gold Standard is the LAST thing we should be worrying about and rather should invest some time in righting what as been done wrong within the world of economics, and fix the financial problems we have within our country first...like paying off the multi-gazillion dollar debt we have...
Posted by: LeticiaRNo, returning to the Gold Standard is a bad idea because it removes government influence over the economy.
Returning to the Gold Standard is a bad idea. It is actually a good thing that the government can print money in depressed economic times because that means it has something it can do to stimulate the economy. There are retractionary things it can do in boom times to help revitalize the value of the dollar.
Posted by: FlakyHerb64I do not believe a return to the Gold Standard is a good idea.
I do not believe a return to the Gold Standard is a good idea. The market price of gold fluctuates too much in this day and age to make it an effective way to measure the value of money. I think that the value money should be based on key economic indicators as it is now. The stock market as well as the strength of the economy are great indicators for how much the dollar should be worth, or how much money should be worth in any country.
Posted by: ObaICheeseThe Gold Standard was appropriate years ago, and we should have new standards that correspond to the current situation.
The Gold Standard used to work, but it became unpopular for a reason. We live in a world that is constantly changing, and we should not keep judging by old standards. New situations call for new interpretations and standards. What was considered a Gold Standard years ago might not be such a good thing today, in a different situation.
Posted by: WakefulTristan35A return to the Gold Standard is a movement to rile up the base, and nothing more than that.
The Gold Standard is an archaic idea that is absolutely needless in today's world. There is no need to have our currency backed by a literal stockpile of gold. The only reason this is even being discussed by "gold bugs" is that it is an issue that these politicians can rally their base around to draw attention to themselves.
Posted by: LiterateWarren