> Absolutely true. Should we give up? Of course not.
It seems rather backwards to me to have historically well tested methods of storing value and to throw those at the wayside because we "know better" now. If you can't prove it's better, don't change it.
I realize that it's incredibly unlikely that we'd ever go back to a gold (or silver) standard but in my personal opinion the positive value that such a standard has far outweighs the negative. You may well disagree with me on the relative values of the benefits and downsides and that's OK. But it doesn't make me wrong either.
When so much of society values things differently (some people find Audi to be worth the money, others BMW, others Ford or Jag or whatever!) it's kind of crazy to assume that one person KNOWS that paper money is better.
Maybe a bunch of people would choose to transact in other currencies given the choice. A recent attempt was made to do so; the Federal government did not welcome the competition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Dollar
It seems rather backwards to me to have historically well tested methods of storing value and to throw those at the wayside because we "know better" now. If you can't prove it's better, don't change it.
I realize that it's incredibly unlikely that we'd ever go back to a gold (or silver) standard but in my personal opinion the positive value that such a standard has far outweighs the negative. You may well disagree with me on the relative values of the benefits and downsides and that's OK. But it doesn't make me wrong either.
When so much of society values things differently (some people find Audi to be worth the money, others BMW, others Ford or Jag or whatever!) it's kind of crazy to assume that one person KNOWS that paper money is better.
Maybe a bunch of people would choose to transact in other currencies given the choice. A recent attempt was made to do so; the Federal government did not welcome the competition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Dollar