The Merits and Feasibility of Returning to a Commodity Standard

20 Pages Posted: 12 Mar 2014

See all articles by Lawrence H. White

Lawrence H. White

George Mason University - Department of Economics; George Mason University - Mercatus Center

Date Written: March 10, 2014

Abstract

Although few academic economists today endorse a gold standard, historical data show that actual gold standards have outperformed actual fiat standards in at least five respects: (1) lower mean inflation rate, hence lower deadweight cost of economizing on money balances; (2) lower price level uncertainty, hence deeper long-term bond markets; (3) greater international trade and capital flows, due to network benefits of a common currency area; (4) lower resource costs of gold mining for monetary purposes with a lower real price of gold, due to the elimination of private demand to hold gold as an inflation hedge; and (5) greater fiscal discipline. Returning to a gold standard would be immediately feasible for the US, the Eurozone, and Switzerland, where official gold stocks are large enough at the current price of gold to provide historically reasonable reserve ratios behind broader monetary aggregates. Other major nations (Japan, UK, China) would have to purchase gold.

Keywords: Commodity money, Gold Standard, Inflation Hedge

Suggested Citation

White, Lawrence H., The Merits and Feasibility of Returning to a Commodity Standard (March 10, 2014). GMU Working Paper in Economics No. 14-05, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2406966 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2406966

Lawrence H. White (Contact Author)

George Mason University - Department of Economics ( email )

4400 University Drive
Fairfax, VA 22030
United States

George Mason University - Mercatus Center ( email )

3434 Washington Blvd., 4th Floor
Arlington, VA 22201
United States

HOME PAGE: http://ppe.mercatus.org/scholars/lawrence-h-white

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