Having a gold standard is backward because you tie the value of your currency to an arbitrary asset that changes in value for reasons other than the attractive

Having a gold standard is backward because you tie the value of your currency to an arbitrary asset that changes in value for reasons other than the attractiveness of your currency. It means for instance that the value of your currency goes down because people dig more gold bearing dirt out of the ground. Or maybe some better thing that replaces gold is discovered or made and your currency is suddenly worthless. The reason people think gold is a good idea is because they think money should have some sort of absolute or immutable value (your 'fixed supply'), because they do so much real work to earn it, but money, like any other asset, is worth what people will pay (or give) for it, or in other words, what you can buy with it. Like everything else money is subject to the laws of demand and supply. That's driven by the US economy (and others) and the Fed. You have to have faith that the Fed knows what they are doing, at least more so than a bunch of gold miners mostly in Australia and Canada.