A Comeback for Gold-Backed Money?

Written By: Andrey Dashkov, Casey Research  |  Posted: Thursday, April 7th, 2011

            Several legislative initiatives caught our attention recently. All of them are related to the monetary role of gold and range from proposals to return to the gold standard, to minting gold and silver as an alternative currency, to having all state transactions carried out in gold and silver coins, to permitting citizens to run their own mints.

            Do these proposals signal a significant attitude change among politicians and mainstream economic institutions toward gold? No. They are largely regarded as fringe ideas and dismissed out of hand. The third link above is written in a condescending tone that implies everyone knows that the gold standard is bad for an economy and it caused the Great Depression. Still, it's quite telling that opinions that gold can be incorporated into a modern economy are becoming numerous, and actually making it onto the legislative agenda in various jurisdictions.

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