> It's really weird watching people declare the gold standard to be the way to prevent a boom-and-bust cycle. Au contraire. I don't think a gold standard prev

> It's really weird watching people declare the gold standard to be the way to prevent a boom-and-bust cycle. Au contraire. I don't think a gold standard prevented such a thing. I do think that it was irresponsible to lurch into the current (post 1970s) arrangement without more thoughtful preparation, or at the least, higher expectations than 'more of the same, slightly ameliorated'. Claims regarding previous boom-bust cycles (under vastly different socio-economic structures) and wealth inequality (Rockefellers, Carnegies, etc) to my mind fall under the category of whataboutism. If we've just risen above the worst possible scenarios, it's only due to a poverty of expectations. We should have done much better.