The background and pro and con arguments were written by ProCon.org staff based upon input from the following sources.
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2. | Robert McTeer, "A Brief History of the Gold Standard," ncpa.org, June 16, 2011 |
3. | Federal Reserve Bank of New York, "The Key to the Gold Vault," newyorkfed.org (accessed Dec. 5, 2012) |
4. | Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, "Currency Component of M1 (CURRNS), research.stlouisfed.org (accessed Dec. 26, 2012) |
5. | Matthew Bishop and Michael Green, In Gold We Trust, 2012 |
6. | Steve Forbes, "Golden Rule for Prosperity," forbes.com, June 6, 2012 |
7. | Ludwig von Mises Institute, The Gold Standard: Perspectives in the Austrian School, mises.org, 1992 |
8. | Michael D. Bordo, et al., "Gold, Fiat Money and Price Stability," research.stlouisfed.org, May 2007 |
9. | Michael D. Bordo, "Gold Standard," econlib.org (accessed Dec. 26, 2012) |
10. | US Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Consumer Price Index: All Urban Consumers,"![]() |
11. | Arthur J. Rolnik and Warren E. Weber, "Money, Inflation, and Output Under Fiat and Commodity Standards"![]() |
12. | Ron Paul, "Paper Money and Tyranny," lewrockwell.com, Sep. 5, 2003 |
13. | F. William Engdahl, "Crisis of the US Dollar System," globalresearch.ca, Oct. 14, 2006 |
14. | US Department of Defense, "Base Structure Report Fiscal Year 2010 Baseline," acq.osd.mil, 2010 |
15. | Loren Thompson, "The Real Cost of US In Libya? Two Billion Dollars per Day," forbes.com, Mar. 28, 2011 |
16. | Scott S. Powell, "How US Debt Risks Dollar Doomsday," nypost.com, Apr. 30, 2012 |
17. | Charles Kadlec, "A Gold Standard Is Big Oil's Best Defense Against Political Attack," forbes.com, Oct. 31, 2011 |
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19. | Tim McMahon, "Historical Oil Prices Chart," inflationdata.com, June 14, 2012 |
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21. | Ron Paul, "The Austrian School and the Meltdown," lewrockwell.com, Sep. 26, 2008 |
22. | Lewis E. Lehrman, "A Road to Prosperity," spectator.org, Oct. 2012 |
23. | Lawrence H. White, "A Gold Standard with Free Banking Would Have Restrained the Boom and Bust," cato.org, Fall 2011 |
24. | Frank Shostak, "Contra Bernanke on the Gold Standard," mises.org, Apr. 11, 2012 |
25. | Michael Pollaro, "Money Supply Booming, Seeds of the Next Greater Recession," forbes.com, Mar. 17, 2012 |
26. | Lawrence H. White, "Is the Gold Standard Still the Gold Standard among Monetary Systems?," cato.org, Feb. 8, 2008 |
27. | Charles Kadlec, "The Price of Abandoning the Gold Standard," forbes.com, Sep. 12, 2011 |
28. | Sean Fieler, "Easy Money Is Punishing the Middle Class," online.wsj.com, Sep. 26, 2012 |
29. | Ron Paul, "Paper Money and Tyranny," paul.house.gov, Sep. 5, 2003 |
30. | Ralph Benko and Charles Kadlec, The 21st Century Gold Standard: For Prosperity, Security, and Liberty, agoldenage.com, 2012 |
31. | US Department of the Treasury, "The Debt to the Penny and Who Holds It," treasurydirect.gov (accessed Dec. 26, 2012) |
32. | Levin Institute, "The Trade Balance," globalization101.org (accessed Dec. 26, 2012) |
33. | Michael Pollaro, "America, Poised for a Hyperinflationary Event?," forbes.com, Feb. 8, 2011 |
34. | Ron Paul, "Why Gold Is Good Money," goldnews.bullionvault.com, Oct. 2, 2012 |
35. | Ron Paul, Robert P. Murphy, and Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Pillars of Prosperity: Free Markets, Honest Money, Private Property, 2008 |
36. | John Ameriks, "The Gold Rush of 2010," vanguardblog.com, July 26, 2010 |
37. | Inflation Data, "Inflation Adjusted Annual Average Gold Prices," inflationdata.com, Sep. 15, 2011 |
38. | Gregory Hilton, "The Case against Gold," diplomatdc.wordpress.com, May 29, 2011 |
39. | Donald T. Regan, et al., "Report to the Congress of the Commission on the Role of Gold in the Domestic and International Monetary Systems" ![]() |
40. | John H. Makin, "All That Glitters: A Primer on the Gold Standard," aei.org, Oct. 9, 2012 |
41. | Ben Bernanke and Harold James, "The Gold Standard, Deflation, and Financial Crisis in the Great Depression: An International Comparison," nber.org, Jan. 1991 |
42. | Matthew O'Brien, "Why the Gold Standard Is the World's Worst Economic Idea, in 2 Charts," theatlantic.com, Aug. 26, 2012 |
43. | Chicago Booth IGM Forum, "Gold Standard," igmchicago.org, Jan. 12, 2012 |
44. | Ben Bernanke, "The Federal Reserve and the Financial Crisis: Origins and Mission of the Federal Reserve" ![]() |
45. | Paul Krugman, "Golden Instability," krugman.blogs.nytimes.com, Aug. 26, 2012 |
46. | US Department of the Treasury, "TARP Programs," treasury.gov (accessed Dec. 26, 2012) |
47. | Barry Eichengreen, "A Critique of Pure Gold," nationalinterest.org, Aug. 24, 2011 |
48. | Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, "The First Fifty Years," fdic.gov (accessed Dec. 26, 2012) |
49. | James D. Hamilton, "A Disaster for Wages," nytimes.com, Mar. 8, 2011 |
50. | Barry Eichengreen, Golden Fetters : The Gold Standard and the Great Depression, 1919-1939, 1996 |
51. | Paul Heise, "The Gold Standard Isn't Good as Gold," ldnews.com, Nov. 21, 2012 |
52. | Frank Curzio, "Gold Mining Costs Rising Fast," goldnews.bullionvault.com, June 28, 2012 |
53. | US Department of the Treasury Bureau of Engraving and Printing, "Annual Production Figures," moneyfactory.gov (accessed Dec. 26, 2012) |
54. | Anna J. Schwartz, "Alternative Monetary Regimes: The Gold Standard," nber.org, 1987 |
55. | R. Eisler and SN Wiemeyer, "Cyanide Hazards to Plants and Animals from Gold Mining and Related Water Issues," ncbi.nlm.gov, 2004 |
56. | Earthworks and Oxfam America, "Dirty Metals: Mining, Communities and the Environment," nodirtygold.org, 2004 |
57. | Ofelia Rivas, "O'odham Sacred Site of Quitovac once again under Threat from US Gold Mining Company Silver Scott Mines," solidarity-project.org, Feb. 2012 |
58. | Great Basin Resource Watch, "Save Spiritual Site Mt. Tenabo," gbrw.org (accessed Dec. 26, 2012) |
59. | Scott Sonner, "Tribe Battles BLM over Nev. Gold Mine in US Court," desertnews.com, Oct. 6, 2011 |
60. | Jeffrey Frankel, "The Dollar's New and Old Rivals," nytimes.com, Nov. 10, 2010 |
61. | John Waggoner, "Should We Return to the Gold Standard," usatoday.com, Apr. 23, 2012 |
62. | Joe Weisenthal, "Why the Gold Standard Is the Worst Idea in the World in One Chart," businessinsider.com, Sep. 4, 2012 |
63. | Franklin Noll, "The Birth of US Fiat Currency," bloomberg.com, Apr. 2, 2012 |
64. | Marc Labonte and Mindy Levit, "Financing Issues and Economic Effects of American Wars," fas.org, July 29, 2008 |
65. | Matthew Philips, "GOP: In Gold We Trust," businessweek.com, Aug. 31, 2012 |
66. | Ron Paul, "Fiat Paper Money," lewrockwell.com, Sep. 12, 2003 |
67. | Steve Forbes, "Gold Can Save Us from Disaster," forbes.com, Oct. 3, 2012 |
68. | The McAlvany Weekly Commentary, "Steve Forbes Interview: Gold Standard Inevitable," mcalvanynews.com, Dec. 4, 2012 |
69. | Republican National Committee (RNC), "2012 Republican Platform," gop.com (accessed Dec. 28, 2012) |
70. | Peter G. Peterson Foundation, "The US Spent More on Defense in 2011 Than Did the Countries with the Next 13 Highest Defense Budgets Combined," pgfp.org, Apr. 12, 2012 |
71. | Congressional Research Service (CRS), "Brief History of the Gold Standard in the United States"![]() |
72. | US Financial Management Service, "Status Report of US Treasury-Owned Gold," fms.treas.gov, Oct. 31, 2012 |
73. | A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc., "A-Mark Spot Prices History," amark.com (accessed Dec. 28, 2012) |
74. | Allan H. Meltzer, "Origins of the Great Inflation," research.stlouisfed.org, March/April 2005 |
75. | The Coinage Act of 1792 ![]() |
76. | Richard Giedroyc, "The History of the United States $10 Gold Piece," coinfacts.com (accessed Dec. 28, 2012) |
77. | NGC Coin Explorer, "Gold Dollars (1849-1854),” ngccoin.com (accessed Dec. 20, 2012) |
78. | The Coinage Act of 1834![]() |
79. | Sarah Stodola, "Civil War at 150: Debt Lessons from Lincoln," thefiscaltimes.com, Apr. 12, 2011 |
80. | Tax History Project, "Tax History Museum: 1861-1865: The Civil War," taxhistory.org (accessed Dec. 28, 2012) |
81. | United States Department of Treasury Bureau of Public Debt, "Our History," publicdebt.treas.gov, Dec. 22, 2011 |
82. | Richard H. Timberlake, "From Constitutional to Fiat Money: The US Experience,” cato.org, Spring/Summer 2012 |
83. | The Learning Network, "March 14, 1900: US Officially Adopts the Gold Standard,” learning.blogs.nytimes.com, Mar. 14, 2012 |
84. | Harvard Business School Historical Collections, "Off the Rails,” library.hbs.edu (accessed Nov. 30, 2012) |
85. | Elmus Wicker, "Banking Panics in the US: 1873-1933,” eh.net, Feb. 1, 2010 |
86. | John Steele Gordon, "On the Greenback Party and Its Newly Relevant Ideas,” bloomberg.com, Nov. 30, 2011 |
87. | Encyclopedia Britannica, "Resumption Act of 1875,” bratannica.com (accessed Nov. 30, 2012) |
88. | US Federal Reserve, "History of the Federal Reserve,” federalreserveeducation.org (accessed Nov. 30, 2012) |
89. | The Lehrman Institute, "The Free Silver Movement,” thegoldstandardnow.org (accessed Nov. 30, 2012) |
90. | William Jennings Bryan, "Cross of Gold," pbs.org, July 9, 1896 |
91. | The American Presidency Project, "Republican Party Platform of 1896," presidency.ucsb.edu, June 16, 1896 |
92. | New York Times, "Gold Now the Standard: President McKinley Signs the Financial Bill,” nytimes.com, Mar. 14, 1900 |
93. | Richard H. Timberlake, "Federal Reserve System,” econlib.org, 2008 |
94. | American Experience, "Timeline of the Great Depression,” pbs.org (accessed Dec. 3, 2012) |
95. | Stephen G. Cecchetti, "Prices During the Great Depression: Was the Deflation of 1930-32 Really Unanticipated?,” nebr.org, Nov. 1989 |
96. | World Gold Council, "After the Gold Standard 1931-1999," gold.org (accessed Dec. 28, 2012) |
97. | United States Mint, "The United States Bullion Depository Fort Knox, Kentucky,” usmint.gov (accessed Dec. 4, 2012) |
98. | Ron Paul, The Case For Gold, 1982 |
99. | M.J. Stephey, "A Brief History of the Bretton Woods System,” time.com, Oct. 21, 2008 |
100. | Alan S. Blinder, "The Anatomy of Double-Digit Inflation in the 1970s,” nber.org, 1982 |
101. | Ezra Klein, "The GOP Has Picked the Wrong Time to Rediscover Gold," washingtonpost.com, Aug. 24, 2012 |
102. | Gold Bullion Coin Act of 1985![]() |
103. | Reuters, "Republican Gold Standard Return Plan Seen as Full of Bugs," huffingtonpost.com, Aug. 27, 2012 |
104. | World Gold Council, "Frequently Asked Questions," goldfacts.org (accessed Dec. 28, 2012) |
105. | Mamta Badkar, "10 Countries Hoarding Massive Amounts of Gold," businessinsider.com, Nov. 9, 2012 |
106. | Matt Phillips, "The Long Story of US Debt, From 1790 to 2011, in 1 Little Chart," theatlantic.com, Nov. 13, 2012 |
107. | American Principles Project, "Gold Is Money," americanprinciplesproject.org (accessed Dec. 29, 2012) |
108. | The Lehrman Institute, "The Gold Standard Now," thegoldstandardnow.com (accessed Dec. 29, 2012) |
109. | Ludwig von Mises Institute, mises.org (accessed Dec. 29, 2012) |
110. | New York Times, "Economic Stimulus - Jobs Bills," nytimes.com, Mar. 15, 2012 |
111. | Christina D. Romer, "The Fiscal Stimulus, Flawed but Valuable," nytimes.com, Oct. 20, 2012 |
112. | Benjamin Cohen, "Bretton Woods System," polisci.ucsb.edu (accessed Dec. 31, 2012) |
113. | Scott Horsley, “It’s Official: U.S. Economy Is in a Recession,” npr.org, June 8, 2020 |
114. | Charles Kadlec, “Gingrich, The Gold Standard, And the Florida Primary,” forbes.com, Jan. 23, 2102 |
115. | US Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Databases, Tables & Calculators by Subject: (Unadj) Unemployment Rate,” data.bls.gov, July 29, 2020 |
116. | Jeffrey Cheng, Dave Skidmore, and David Wessel, “What’s the Fed Doing in Response to the COVID-19 Crisis? What More Could It Do?,” brookings.edu, June 19, 2020 |
117. | Provident Metals, “How Much Gold is Left in the World?,” providentmetals.com (accessed July 31, 2020) |
118. | Trading Economics, "United States Money Supply M1," tradingeconomics.com (accessed July 31, 2020) |
119. | Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, "M3 for the United States," fred.stlouisfed.org, July 10, 2020 |
120. | Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, "Federal Debt: Total Public Debt as Percent of Gross Domestic Product," fred.stlouis.org, July 30, 2020 |
121. | Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, "Why Does a Trade Deficit Weaken the Currency?," frbsf.org, Oct. 1999 |
122. | Kimberly Amadeo, "US Trade Deficit and How It Hurts the Economy," thebalance.com, Apr. 18, 2020 |
123. | Tom Lewis, "Lowest Cost Gold Mines in the World for First Quarter 2019," goldtelegraph.com, July 29, 2019 |
124. | Mykal May, "How Much Does a Typical Gold Ring Weigh?," leaf.tv (accessed Aug. 4, 2020) |
125. | Federal Reserve, "How Much Does It Cost to Produce Currency and Coin?," federalreserve.gov, Apr. 6, 2020 |
126. | Simon Scarr and Anthony Boadle, "Amazon Gold Rush: Illegal Mining Threatens Brazil's Last Major Isolated Tribe," reuters.com, June 25, 2020 |
127. | Overseas Base Realignment and Closure Coalition, "US Military Bases Overseas: The Facts," overseasbases.net (accessed Aug. 5, 2020) |
128. | Nick Turse, "Trump's Confusing Orders in Syria Show Why It's So Hard to Tell How Many Bases the US Military Has Overseas," businessinsider.com, Nov. 5, 2019 |
129. | Joe Gould, "Pentagon Finally Gets Its 2020 Budget from Congress," defensenews.com, Dec. 19, 2020 |
130. | SIPRI, "Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2019," sipri.org, Apr. 2020 |
131. | Lindsey Konkel, "How Did the Gold Standard Contribute to the Great Depression?," history.com, Mar. 18, 2020 |
132. | Kimberly Amadeo, "History of the Gold Standard," thebalance.com, Apr. 24, 2020 |
133. | Judy Shelton, "The Case for a New International Monetary System," cato.org, Spring/Summer 2018 |
134. | Thomas Franck, "Fed's Powell Explains Why a Return to the Gold Standard Would Be So Damaging to the Economy," cnbc.com, July 10, 2019 |
135. | Akin Oyedele, "Greenspan: The US Cannot Afford to Spend on Infrastructure Like It Wants because It's Not on the Gold Standard," businessinsider.com, Feb. 16, 2017 |
136. | US Mint, "History of the U.S. Mint," usmint.gov, Oct. 31, 2019 |
137. | US Mint, "Coin Production," usmint.gov, Sep. 3, 2019 |
138. | Coindoc, "Arrows Coinage & The Mint Act of 1853," coinsite.com (accessed Aug. 10, 2020) |
139. | US Capitol Visitor Center, "From Gold to Greenbacks," visitthecapitol.gov (accessed Aug. 10, 2020) |
140. | Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Legal Tender Cases," britannica.com, Apr. 24, 2020 |
141. | Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Greenback Movement," britannica.com, July 29, 2013 |
142. | Gary Richardson and Tim Sablik, "Banking Panics of the Gilded Age: 1863–1913," federalreservehistory.org, Dec. 4, 2015 |
143. | Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Free Silver Movement," britannica.com, Apr. 9, 2019 |
144. | History Matters, "Bryan’s 'Cross of Gold' Speech: Mesmerizing the Masses," historymatters.gmu.edu (accessed Aug. 10, 2020) |
145. | Jospeh C. Ramage, "The Gold Cover," fraser.stlouisfed.org, July 1968 |
146. | Gary Richardson, Alejandro Komai, and Michael Gou, "Roosevelt's Gold Program," federalreservehistory.org, Nov. 22, 2013 |
147. | InflationData.com, "Inflation and CPI Consumer Price Index 1930-1939," inflationdata.com (accessed Aug. 10, 2020) |
148. | Sandra Kollen Ghizoni, "Creation of the Bretton Woods System: July 1944," federalreservehistory.org, Nov. 22, 2013 |
149. | Edwin L. Dale, Jr., "Devalued Dollar Is Asked in Study," nytimes.com, Aug. 8, 1971 |
150. | Charles Kolb, "August 15, 1971," huffpost.com, Nov. 19, 2013 |
151. | Michael J. Graetz and Olivia Briffault, "A “Barbarous Relic”: The French, Gold, and the Demise of Bretton Woods," scholarship.law.columbia.edu, Aug. 19. 2016 |
152. | US Department of State Office of the Historian, "Nixon and the End of the Bretton Woods System, 1971–1973," history.state.gov (accessed Aug. 11, 2020) |
153. | History.com Editors, "1933 June 05: FDR Takes United States off Gold Standard," history.com, June 17, 2020 |
154. | Bud Newman, "Congress Approves Gold Coin Bill," upi.com, Dec. 3, 1985 |
155. | Department of the Treasury, "Department of the Treasury Bureau of the Fiscal Service Status Report of U.S. Government Gold Reserve July 31, 2020," fiscal.treasury.gov, July 31, 2020 |
156. | World Gold Council, "How Much Gold Has Been Mined?," gold.org (accessed Aug. 11, 2020) |
157. | David Gura, "Senate Banking Committee Approves Contentious Nominee Judy Shelton for Federal Reserve Board," nbcnews.com, July 21, 2020 |
158. | Natasha Frost and Gwynn Guilford, "The Quiet Campaign to Reinstate the Gold Standard Is Getting Louder," qz.com, July 3, 2019 |
159. | Julia Horowitz, "Gold Price Rockets past $2,000 per Ounce and It Could Keep Going," cnn.com, Aug. 5, 2020 |
160. | William Watts, "Dollar Weakens across the Board after Fed Decision," marketwatch.com, July 29, 2020 |