Should the US return to the Gold Standard?
Yes
Side Score: 2
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No
Side Score: 8
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Never heard of the Great Depression of '29? Happened long before Nixon revoked Bretton Woods in 71. Actually it happened before Bretton woods was signed and not coincidentally caused FDR to nationalize gold. Actually the economy worked well until we replaced JP Morgan with the federal reserve system IMO. And debt has been a part of our economy since we borrowed from the Dutch and French to fight the Brits. Thanks to Alexander Hamilton, it was built into the system. Side: No
Yes we need to switch back to the gold standard asit: 1. Limits the money supply the Fed can print, ain't got the gold can't print the money. 2. It removes the Federal Reserve who make the interest rate decisions that have been killing our currency. 3. It removes the Federal Government's control over our lives. 4. It would remove the Federal Deficit and strengthen the Dollar and make it the strongest most stable currency in the world. Side: yes
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With the weakness in the US dollar we have right now, returning to the gold standard would require the US government to purchase gold to satisfy the foreign holders of American debt that would cash in some of their dollars for hard assets. That kind of demand would mean that the US would have all kinds of problems keeping the currency pegged to gold. At the same time, the gold standard would limit the ability of the fed to control inflation through their control on the money supply. A deflationary currency makes it harder to come up with the money we need for the national budget, since dollars continue to be worth more, and the US government has to ensure there are enough pounds of gold to cover any new currency they mint. On top of all of that, it would be a logistical nightmare to shift over to a different currency or to start propping up our current currency at a fair dollar to gold rate. Side: No
When the Bank of the United States was eliminated by Andrew Jackson and the Democrats, our economy turned to shit and we had an oppression. Part of this was trying to eliminate "soft (paper) money" and return to Gold and silver. Obviously, America fixed itself by creating private banks and sticking to paper money. Now, I am glad that Andrew Jackson succeeded up to the point that he did, because it did lead to the creation of private banks and credit which poor people can use too, but hard money is an inconvenient and primitive use of currency. If we try to switch, the market will turn to chaos in the switch. Many people will get left out in receiving hard money and many will lose everything they have. Andrew Jackson did major good (without intention) but had also done major harm (which in a way, was what he was aiming for). Lets learn from that. Side: No
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