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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Cloudsweeper99, post: 89503, member: 3011&quot;]I don&#039;t expect to convince you of your error, but I feel compelled to respond in order to perhaps prevent this sort of misstatement from being accepted at face value by others.&nbsp; I apologize in advance if this is offensive in any way, but it must be said.</p><p><br /></p><p>Regarding whether or not it works: It&#039;s pointless to say a gold standard doesn&#039;t work when it did work for hundreds of years.&nbsp; In fact, the fastest economic growth rates in the West occurred under the gold standard, and have been only about half that level since its abandonment.</p><p><br /></p><p>Regarding bankruptcy: There is no case in history you can point to where a country on the gold standard went into bankruptcy, but there are many cases where countries went into bankruptcy after going off the gold standard.&nbsp; Let&#039;s not resurrect the tired old misinformation about the US and the Great Depression because our country basically went off the gold standard in 1913 and move to a fractional reserve convertibility standard -- an entirely different system.&nbsp; Besides, there is no evidence that the gold grab by Roosevelt helped the economy in any way, although it enriched the Eastern bankers while impoverishing the people.&nbsp; Most of the real purchasing power was extracted from the economy and then people wonder why the economy was weak for a decade.&nbsp; Amazing!</p><p><br /></p><p>Regarding why some other countries don&#039;t go back on the gold standard, there are two primary reasons:&nbsp; First, the IMF prohibits it for member nations, so a nation would have to resign from the IMF to implement this sort of program.&nbsp; Second, fiat currency is the only currency that makes it possible for a statist regime to function.&nbsp; No authoritarian government would ever voluntarily go on the gold standard because it breaks their control over the money supply.&nbsp; Under our present system, the government can spend any amount of money they wish without collecting&nbsp; dollar in taxes if the so choose.&nbsp; All of their spending is paid for through the debasement of the currency, which is little concern to them since they are the first spenders.&nbsp; Imagine if the government had to first tax gold and silver dollars away from the people before initiating any spending programs.&nbsp; No tyranical government will ever voluntarily subject itself to that sort of control.&nbsp; In the meantime, keep an eye on Mexico.&nbsp; There is a strong movement down there to go back to a silver currency standard because it is recognized that this is the best way to break the cycle of poverty and overbearing government.&nbsp; However, I don&#039;t expect them to succeed because of the opposition from the government and central bankers who depend on the ability to freely print new money at will.</p><p><br /></p><p>Americans are very badly educated when it comes to economics, and therefore the media is filled with opinions about what will and won&#039;t work with no facts to support them.&nbsp; But in America, facts and opinions are considered of equal value today, and the majority of people can&#039;t even tell them apart in daily use.</p><p><br /></p><p>Anyway, if there is even one person out there who is influenced enough by this post to examine the facts about a gold standard, it is worth the effort.&nbsp; I have no real interest in convincing people either way except to provide a select few open minds with enough information to begin their search for the real story instead of accepting disinformation unchallenged.&nbsp; I know the majority of people will continue to believe that the way things are is the only way they can possibly be, because that is what they have been taught to believe.&nbsp; It is there loss.&nbsp; Don&#039;t let it be yours.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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