This article originally appeared in Ayn Rand’s newsletter: The Objectivist published in 1966, and reprinted in her book, Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal.
Unlike his years as Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Greenspan can speak in English when he wants to and has never publicly retracted a word of this essay. The following essay is a good introduction to the government’s war on gold, which summarizes the basic issue: the comparative liberty that a government-guaranteed gold coin standard offers to a society. The problem is, a government-guaranteed gold standard is guaranteed by the government and government’s tend to bend the rules to fit their own current situation. ~ Editor
Alan Greenspan
An almost hysterical antagonism toward the gold standard is one issue, which unites statists of all persuasions. They seem to sense – perhaps more clearly and subtly than many consistent defenders of laissez-faire – that gold and economic freedom are inseparable, that the gold standard is an instrument of laissez-faire and that each implies and requires the other.
In order to understand the source of their antagonism, it is necessary first to understand the specific role of gold in a free society.
Money is the common denominator of all economic transactions. It is that commodity which serves as a medium of exchange, is universally acceptable to all participants in an exchange economy as payment for their goods or services, and can, therefore, be used as a standard of market value and as a store of value, i.e., as a means of saving. Continue reading
At the end of World War I, in the year 1918, Frenchman Jacque Dupré inherited the equivalent of $325,000.00 American dollars. Dupré used his inheritance wisely by converting it all into French, 20 franc gold coins. Each day for the rest of his life Monsieur Dupré spent the total sum of one gold coin to meet his needs – food, clothing, shelter, entertainment and medical.
