Comment by GenerocUsername
2 months ago
Imagine how red 100 years of economists faces will be when the world ends up back on a gold backed currency.
Probably only takes 2 years before they start inventing abstractions on top of it and this kicking off the eventually next economic disaster.
There were, of course, no economic disasters back when the world operated on gold-backed currencies.
The goldbugs won't be red in the face, though, because they are never wrong and are constitutionally incapable of feeling any shame.
I’m pretty sure no-one has argued that a gold standard would prevent economic disasters. That sounds like a straw man. My understanding is that there would be more of them but the individual and cumulative impact would be far less. You can still have fractional reserve banking with the gold standard so the gold standard alone is not sufficient to prevent that.
> I’m pretty sure no-one has argued that a gold standard would prevent economic disasters. That sounds like a straw man. My understanding is that there would be more of them but the individual and cumulative impact would be far less.
Contrary to popular opinion, the historical record shows that gold does not actually bring price stability; see "Why the Gold Standard Is the World's Worst Economic Idea, in 2 Charts":
* http://archive.is/https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archi...
Most of the claimed benefits of gold-backed currencies are myths:
* https://archive.is/https://www.vox.com/2014/7/16/5900297/cas...
Before what we call "The Great Depression" (of the 1930s), that label was applied to another years-long economic malaise, which was in part caused by using gold-backed currency (as was the 1930s Great Depression):
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Depression
You'll find that US economic downturns became less frequent as the US went off the gold standard, and the Fed gained more and more independence:
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:GDP_growth_1923-2009.jpg
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_recessions_in_the_Unit...
8 replies →
Works until we have someone mining asteroids for gold. Then the gold backed currency collapses overnight.
No that's a good thing actually, because then we get asteroid mining spaceships
Beltalowda unite!
I'd rather go back to crypto than be chained to a piece of stupid metal.
You take that back now. Gold is the best thing which has ever existed. Name one thing in the world which can even compete.
The literal idea of value.
2 replies →