Why was getting off the gold standard good?

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From my understanding, remove from the gold standard just allows government to arbitrarily make up the value of the now fiat currency, which is why we now struggle with inflation and soaring debt.

It seems obvious that you’d want your dollar to theoretically be fixed to another medium with a readily appraisable value simply to maintain stability and prevent government corruption through manipulation of the monetary supply.

But then again, I’m no economist.

In: Economics

18 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Government debt and inflation occurred all the time when precious metals were used as currency. Rampant inflation played a part in the fall of Rome and the Spanish empire. Government debt was a main contributor to the French Revolution.

Governments do not arbitrarily set currency valuation. They are based on economic fundamentals like supply and demand. See George Soros and the Bank of England. Soros made billions based on those fundamentals that the UK currency was over valued.

It’s pretty difficult to do an ELI5 on currency. The ELI5 view of currency is why there are people that view gold as some magical cure all for inflation, debt, and everything else.

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