Heh, approaching economics from a philosophical standpoint is the road to madness. I'd argue that sociology is a better approach to understanding economics, but

Heh, approaching economics from a philosophical standpoint is the road to madness. I'd argue that sociology is a better approach to understanding economics, but then I would have fallen into your trap; because then we'd have a philosophical discussion :P I'm far from an expert in economics, but if you're interested in the (very dirty)history of gold, the wikipedia page of the "Gold Standard" is a good start. Time to sleep :)