The Crypto Winter

[georgemw at speakeasy.net]

On 19 Nov 2001, at 2:54, Neil Johnson wrote:


> There are still a lot people that believe the U.S. should return to the
> "Gold Standard" meaning the amount of money in circulation should equal  the
> amount of gold held by the U.S. government. That's what Fort Knox was
> originally for.
>


It's amazing how many people assert this, even though it's clearly 
wrong.  A gold standard does NOT mean that the amount of 
currency in circulation equals the amount of gold in the
vaults, it means that the currency is exchangeable for gold
at a fixed rate.  Obviously, there can be more gold in the vaults
than you need to actually exchange every dollar for the correct
amount of gold. Less obviously, there can be less.

George  
 
 
>