Against Aphobus

Returning to a Gold Standard Is a Bad Idea

Ricard, Your argument is thought provoking, but isn't it just as possible that the U.S. would have benefited monetarily in this crisis if we were on the gold standard?

Yes, people would likely not be fleeing to treasuries rignt now, but all the over-valued CDS, stock, bonds, etc. that were sold to the rest of the world would have already been paid for in gold ;)


On Dec 30 09:21 AM Ricard wrote:

> This argument is not valid.
>
> If we were on the gold standard during this crisis, gold itself wouldn't
> have prevented the majority of Americans from borrowing to the hilt.
> Gold may bring your much-sought-after accountability, but it wouldn't
> have prevented the leverage that destroyed so much wealth.
>
> In this case, your accountability would have dire consequences.
> America would have been stripped of its gold by foreigners as they
> redeem their dollars for gold instead of Treasuries, and we would
> only have one way to regain it back: war. If we do not wage war,
> our economy would have been so crippled from this bout of euphoria
> that we would have not only lost our pre-eminence, but quite possibly
> our nationhood due to the subsequent lowering of our per capita consumption.
> Remember, we don't really produce as much anymore, and without large
> gold stocks, it would cost us dearly as a percentage of gold stocks
> remaing to purchase what others produce.
>
> This doesn't sound like a reasonable solution for fiat to me. Your
> "accountability&am... only comes as the consequence of inane choice.
> It does not counsel or deter stupidity.
>
>
>
> On Dec 30 08:56 AM archman82011 wrote: