Cato on the Gold Standard
Posted by oskarlange on February 20, 2008
Lawrence H. White, Professor of Economic History at the University of Missouri-St. Louis debunks several myths about the gold standard and concludes the following:
“A gold standard does not guarantee perfect steadiness in the growth of the money supply, but historical comparison shows that it has provided more moderate and steadier money growth in practice than the present-day alternative, politically empowering a central banking committee to determine growth in the stock of fiat money. From the perspective of limiting money growth appropriately, the gold standard is far from a crazy idea.”
Read more about the seemingly antiquated monetary regime that our constitution prescribes and politicians ignore here.
John Campbell said
Ron Paul is a fringe kook and only cranks support the gold standard. Didn’t you get the memo?
oskarlange said
What is it about Ron Paul that makes him a “kook”? If rejecting the gold standard is such a no-brainer, you should be able to easily refute the arguments put forth by Dr. White. I think we’d all be better off if we actually put forth substantive arguments rather than label those who disagree with us as “kooks.” If Ron Paul is a crank for favoring the gold standard, then so is Alan Greenspan. Not a bad group to be in…