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> Since the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, IMF members have been free to choose any form of exchange arrangement they wish (except pegging their currency

> Since the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, IMF members have been free to choose any form of exchange arrangement they wish (except pegging their currency to gold) I had no idea gold-backed currencies were actually forbidden. Seems suspicious - why should the IMF use its vast influence to prevent countries from trying out gold-backed currency? Can such attempts somehow unfairly damage other currencies?

PaulHoule 4y ago
Some people blame WWII on the gold standard. Certainly before the managed Bretton Woods standard the US economy had "the panic of XXXX" every few years. Price stability might have been better but unemployment, investment, and everything else was unsteady.
- rgovostes 4y ago
  Apologies for being ludicrously off-topic, but the typesetting of your comment on my iPhone created a nearly perfect 7-line typographical river (starting after "blame"), and it seemed a shame to not share: https://imgur.com/0w5rWqI https://imgur.com/0w5rWqI
tmn 4y ago
Of course it’s suspicious. A floating fiat based system is a great tool to enslave the global population. Backing a currency by gold erodes this tool by constraining the ability to grow and manage debt
- PaulHoule 4y ago
  The American populists thought that the gold standard was a great tool to enslave the American population. Back then it was unthinkable that farmers would be able to invest to say, buy fertilizer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_of_Gold_speech https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_of_Gold_speech The "goldfinger scenario" that goldbugs dream of is the collapse of the global economy which is orders of magnitude too big to be served by the amount of gold we have, they hope that they'll get to live like French aristocrats before the revolution.
  - car_analogy 4y ago
    > Back then it was unthinkable that farmers would be able to invest to say, buy fertilizer This seems very misleading. It wasn't unthinkable in 1969, when the gold standard was still in place. > they hope that they'll get to live like French aristocrats before the revolution. While not a goldbug myself, ascribing base motivations to adherents of some idea is a poor substitute for an argument against the idea itself.
    - PaulHoule 4y ago
      Under Breton woods the gold standard was managed in a way quite different from the pre WWII regime.
- imtringued 4y ago
  What? Having debt in a gold standard is worse because your debt grows every year without your agreement just from the price of gold going up. Inflation is basically a crude continuous debt jubilee which is good for debtors.
usednet 4y ago
Just look at what happened when Gaddafi tried to create a gold backed dinar.
- herbst 4y ago
  They killed him? (I have actually no idea what happened in between)
imtringued 4y ago
>Can such attempts somehow unfairly damage other currencies? No, in fact a gold standard is so terrible it can't compete against fiat.

PaulHoule 4y ago

Some people blame WWII on the gold standard. Certainly before the managed Bretton Woods standard the US economy had "the panic of XXXX" every few years. Price stability might have been better but unemployment, investment, and everything else was unsteady.

rgovostes 4y ago
Apologies for being ludicrously off-topic, but the typesetting of your comment on my iPhone created a nearly perfect 7-line typographical river (starting after "blame"), and it seemed a shame to not share: https://imgur.com/0w5rWqI https://imgur.com/0w5rWqI

tmn 4y ago

Of course it’s suspicious. A floating fiat based system is a great tool to enslave the global population. Backing a currency by gold erodes this tool by constraining the ability to grow and manage debt

PaulHoule 4y ago
The American populists thought that the gold standard was a great tool to enslave the American population. Back then it was unthinkable that farmers would be able to invest to say, buy fertilizer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_of_Gold_speech https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_of_Gold_speech The "goldfinger scenario" that goldbugs dream of is the collapse of the global economy which is orders of magnitude too big to be served by the amount of gold we have, they hope that they'll get to live like French aristocrats before the revolution.
- car_analogy 4y ago
  > Back then it was unthinkable that farmers would be able to invest to say, buy fertilizer This seems very misleading. It wasn't unthinkable in 1969, when the gold standard was still in place. > they hope that they'll get to live like French aristocrats before the revolution. While not a goldbug myself, ascribing base motivations to adherents of some idea is a poor substitute for an argument against the idea itself.
  - PaulHoule 4y ago
    Under Breton woods the gold standard was managed in a way quite different from the pre WWII regime.
imtringued 4y ago
What? Having debt in a gold standard is worse because your debt grows every year without your agreement just from the price of gold going up. Inflation is basically a crude continuous debt jubilee which is good for debtors.

usednet 4y ago

Just look at what happened when Gaddafi tried to create a gold backed dinar.

herbst 4y ago
They killed him? (I have actually no idea what happened in between)

imtringued 4y ago

>Can such attempts somehow unfairly damage other currencies? No, in fact a gold standard is so terrible it can't compete against fiat.