Preface
As we entered the twenty-first century, we may have well entered the century of gold. For the first time in a very long time we are hearing talk about returning to a gold standard. Whether or not governments choose to move toward some form of gold standard is less important than the fact that the free market already is.
The world is in the process of rediscovering gold and is, in effect, moving toward a de facto gold standard, whether governments like it or not. No one can know for sure what shape this new gold standard will take, but given new technologies and the freedom of choice, it will at some point take on a life of its own. That is reason enough to strive to understand what a gold standard is and how it is different from the monetary system of today.
This book is not intended to portray gold or the gold standard as Utopian. There is no Utopia. However, the years, decades, and centuries of the gold standard, and gold itself as a store of value, have served mankind well. When I talk of the stability of the value of money over the centuries during the gold standard, I am not referring to the government-created money under the gold standard—such as the Continental, which was supposed to be as good as gold but ultimately became worthless. Nor am I talking about the suspension of gold convertibility by governments during that period, which amounts to a broken government promise.
I am not talking about the banks that backed their notes with gold and could not redeem them ...
