The Gold Standard: Retrospect and Prospect
Fifty years after the Nixon shock, it is difficult for many to imagine a dollar connected to gold. Most Americans have never used a gold-backed dollar. They do not understand how the gold standard worked. They have not considered the merits of returning to the gold standard. The gold standard, in their minds, is a relic of a bygone era. The contributions in this volume help to bridge the knowledge gap created by fifty years of fiat money.
On August 15, 1971, President Richard Nixon closed the gold window. On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of this event, AIER published an edited book on the gold standard. The functioning of this monetary regime is one of those topics that are surrounded more by myths than reality. AIER’s book brings a reality check to the historical performance of the gold standard. As the editors of the book Peter C. Earle and William J. Luther say (emphasis added):
In general, the gold standard effectively managed the money supply to stabilize the purchasing power of money over time. This was no accident.
You can see in the table of contents below that the book is novel in including a discussion about cryptocurrencies. I’m very lucky to be included in a volume along with some of my favorite monetary economists. I hope you consider reading the book and consume some real-world analysis of the merits and shortcomings of the gold standard.
Table of contents
Prologue
AIER Research Staff, August 1971
Chapter 1. Introduction
Peter C. Earle and William J. Luther
Chapter 2. The Rise and Fall of the Gold Standard in the United States
George Selgin
Chapter 3. How Does a Well-Functioning Gold Standard Function?
Peter C. Earle and William J. Luther
Chapter 4. Price Specie Flow Mechanism and the Monetary Approach to the Balance of Payments
Kwabena Boateng and Joshua Hendrickson
Chapter 5. How Good was the Gold Standard?
Thomas L. Hogan
Chapter 6. Arguments against the Gold Standard
Lawrence H. White
Chapter 7. Is the Gold Standard Feasible?
Bryan P. Cutsinger
Chapter 8. Monetary Rules: Is a Constrained Central Bank as Good as Gold?
Alexander W. Salter
Chapter 9. International Monies: The Gold Standard, Currency Boards, and Dollarization
Nicolas Cachanosky
Chapter 10. Digital Gold: The Case for Cryptocurrencies
William J. Luther
Chapter 11. Conclusion
Peter C. Earle and William J. Luther
Nicolás Cachanosky
Associate Professor of Economics
N. Cachanosky | MSU Denver