Monday, August 27, 2012

The Horror!

Keynesianism vs. the Gold-Coin Standard - Gary North - Mises Daily: "Here, he identifies the enemy position of all Keynesians.
What they tend to ignore is that the world has tried the gold standard before and it was, in most respects, a disaster.
Here is a statement. It is a conclusion. It is not an argument.

The world tried the international gold standard from 1815 until the outbreak of World War I 1914, which was the greatest period of economic growth in recorded history. The world of 1900 would have been unrecognizable in its wealth for the masses by someone getting out of a time machine activated in 1800.
At present, as the economy grows and produces more goods the central bank can expand the money supply to keep up with output. Under the gold standard, as output increases, the money supply will be fixed and with more goods but the same amount of money, prices will tend to fall.
So, prices tend to fall under the gold standard. The horror! Why, the whole consumer price index would begin to resemble the cost of computing: ever less expensive."
This is a RTWT.