In a Forbes op/ed released today, Ralph Benko examines the growing popularity and mainstream acceptance of the gold standard “debate.” Economists who once derided the practicality of a gold standard are recognizing the importance of a serious discussion about returning to a sound money system.
“Whether one supports it or opposes it, the gold standard no longer is seen by most serious thinkers as fringe. It no longer is dismissible merely by invoking shibboleths like “barbarous relic” or “cross of gold.” Facts are stubborn things, as John Adams once observed. Facts are much more stubborn than mere mockery.
There are reasons for the turnaround in the gold standard’s reputation. Rigorous thinkers such as analysts from the Bank of England, in its December 2011 Financial Security Paper No. 13, “Reform of the International Monetary and Financial System, have assessed the performance of the fiduciary dollar standard and found it deeply inferior to the actual performance of both the gold and of the (before it inevitably, due to an inherent latent defect, collapsed) gold-exchange standard. Now, after 12 years of “Dark Ages” economic growth rates, the incumbent monetary policy elites are beginning to appear slightly desperate to justify their prestige and attendant privileges.”
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Central banks are buying gold at record levels. This could cue the return of the gold standard.