In the 2008 presidential primary season, candidate Ron Paul highlighted the gold standard as a major part of his campaign, prompting many Americans to ask: What is the gold standard? In short, the gold standard dictates that the value of our currency is determined by the value of gold. In such troubled financial times, would a return to the gold standard bring us back to a strong and stable economy, or usher in yet another economic disaster?
We're talking at cross-purposes, to be sure. In my "for" arguments, I specifically stated that I do not support a return to the gold standard of ancient history. Rather, I see the gold price as a high-frequency indicator of inflation risks which ought to be taken into account in the deliberations of central bankers. So it's a bit of a waste of time to sift through the ashes of Depression-era history,when that's not even what we're talking about at this point.
THAT SAID -- I can't resist pointing out that blaming the Depression on the single cause of the standard is naive at best, and supporting it by noting that recovery ensued when the gold standard was abrogated is patently absurd. Many, many things were going on during the Depression -- any one of which could be arbitrarily chosen as "the thing" that launched recovery.
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