Wednesday
“…if central bankers are managing a “gold standard” in order to control monetary policy, whatever it is they are managing is not really a gold standard.”
Richard Timberlake (from: Gold Standards and the Real Bills Doctrine in U.S. Monetary Policy)
There are necessary elements of the Gold standard that, when present, ensure widespread wealth creation and general prosperity. They are:
1 No legal tender laws,
2 No part of the mining, transportation, refining, minting, storage or utility of Gold or silver is subject to taxation or legislation,
3 The marketplace is free to set interest rates.
Lacking any of these elements means that it is not really a Gold standard and that to some degree or other the benefits will be lessened.
If all these elements are in place, and a free market in goods, services and labour prevails, then the world would see a burst of prosperity that would be unprecedented and unimaginable in scope.
Only by violating the conditions for prosperity’s existence can governments ensure widespread poverty.