Is it possible (or even a good idea to consider) for the US to revert back to printed money "in gold standard?"

2015-11-24T10:01:35-05:00

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 24 at 2015 10:03 AM

2015-11-24T10:03:12-05:00

no i personally dont see that happening any time soon.

Response by LTC John Shaw made Nov 24 at 2015 10:31 AM

2015-11-24T10:31:37-05:00

SGT Private RallyPoint Member No, perhaps we could have in 1935 when FDR pulled us off the standard to create inflation in an attempt to benefit the economy or even in 1973 Bretton-Woods agreement when the US and major European powers had fixed exchange rates. Fiat money is what exists now and printing more and more of it is where we will be for the next 30 years.
We need our own and all governments to focus on living within their means and stopping the debt spiral. We can expect slow or no growth for the next 10-15 years with current policies. I don't believe most politicians understand we are in a massive deflationary cycle caused by existing policies and driven by major companies/institutions pursuing lowest cost labor strategies.

Response by Capt Seid Waddell made Nov 24 at 2015 12:08 PM

2015-11-24T12:08:51-05:00

It would provide the fiscal discipline our politicians lack.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 24 at 2015 12:20 PM

2015-11-24T12:20:43-05:00

It would require a complete revaluation of the US Dollar, to several times it's current worth. It would also tie its value to a commodity, making massive debt-producing expenditures prohibitively expensive.
In short, the powers that be would never go for it.

Response by MCPO Roger Collins made Nov 24 at 2015 2:37 PM

2015-11-24T14:37:16-05:00

I read somewhere (yes, one of those unattributed sources) that there wasn't enough gold to revert to the gold standard. A better plan would be to eliminate the Federal Reserve.

Response by CW3 Jim Norris made Nov 25 at 2015 10:57 AM

2015-11-25T10:57:15-05:00

It's a grand idea to transition to a currency based upon something besides - the good faith - of the federal reserve. Unless of course we want to surrender to the Yuan as the international exchange currency, which would instantly put the nation into a massive depression.

Response by SP5 Michael Rathbun made Nov 25 at 2015 4:08 PM

2015-11-25T16:08:20-05:00

If the supply of gold were functionally infinite but readily controllable, this might work. Otherwise you end up with a finite quantity of dollars, which doesn't work well with the "growth at all costs" philosophy we currently are governed by.

Check out the whole set of metalism debates going back to the election of 1896.

Response by 1LT Aaron Barr made Nov 26 at 2015 11:36 AM

2015-11-26T11:36:21-05:00

It would be possible, though to do so the value of the dollar would have to go up dramatically as there's nowhere near enough gold to back the dollars currently in circulation. Frankly, I think going back to the gold standard would be a good idea. You can't delay the economic pain that comes from bad fiscal and monetary policy with a gold standard which would force government to be more responsible.

Response by SSG Gerhard S. made Nov 26 at 2015 12:19 PM

2015-11-26T12:19:50-05:00

Maybe not in a strict gold Standard, but perhaps in a precious metal standard including a host of metals is feasible. It would revert some power back into the hands of the people, and would require fiscal responsibility by the government, which would no longer be able to engage in the wanton printing of money now known as "quantitative easing", or be the sole determiner of interest rates. Ultimately, a precious metals standard would be well worth the period of adjustment necessary to reenact such a system.
Kennedy tried to get us on the path of a precious metals standard, I still have a $1 silver certificate from the Kennedy era... Of course, some believe his move in that direction is what got him assassinated.

Response by SFC Fernando Campos made Dec 3 at 2015 3:50 PM

2015-12-03T15:50:42-05:00

You (and anyone else) should watch the documentary Money Masters - in a nutshell, printed money is worthless because it is not backed up with anything. The so called Federal Reserve System is but the fourth central banking system in the United States, run by private banks and it is NOT part of the Federal Government at all. The previous three cebtral banking systems were all anulled due to fraud and criminal activity. Our current central bank should go the same route, look at what they've done: as soon as it was (illegally) chartered in 1912, we got thrown into WW1 and many other wars since. It was instrumental in the total confiscation of personal owned gold in WWII - there's no space here to relate all the crimes committed by the central bank. Get rid of useless paper - go back to real gold and silver.

Response by SFC Fernando Campos made Dec 3 at 2015 3:55 PM

2015-12-03T15:55:15-05:00

Every President that bucked the central banking systems in our past have been killed or for a couple of them, the attempt was made but they survived (Andrew Jackson and Ronald Reagan).

Response by COL Ardis Ferguson made Jun 6 at 2018 8:58 PM

2018-06-06T20:58:59-04:00

The world’s economy is far to complex to tie the US dollar to a commodity. The dollar is a more than a currency, and thinking of Adam Smith’s Invisible Hand that moves the market, tying the dollar to a commodity would cause catastrophic ripples through the market as it tried to adjust. Today, the dollar is valued by the purchasing power of the dollar while Gold is valued on what investors are willing to pay to buy a measure (usually an ounce).