Quote Posted by mexrph (here)
Gold and silver have evolved over the ages as the best medium of exchange and backing currency with gold and silver are the best ways of keeping governments from inflating their currency to worthlessness. Prior to 1965 we could take a silver certificate to a bank and get a silver dollar. That silver dollar today is worth $30. Prior to 1933 we could take a gold certificate to a bank and get a $20 gold piece. That $20 gold piece is currently worth $2000. Before you criticise gold and silver, please study the history of money.
Hi mexrph,

I just finished reading "No More National Debt" which is not specifically the history of money, but does go into that a bit. The movie "The Secret of Oz" has quite a bit about the history of money as well. In No More National Debt, Bill Still makes a good, logical case for NOT backing money with gold - and that was a change from his previous stance, due to his research. Seems valid to me. He makes a compelling case in that book, and if you still don't like the idea, the question remains: where in the hell is the US going to get say, 50 trillion dollars worth of gold to back our money? Where is Costa Rica going to get any gold at all? (Think of how truly rich the nation of Costa Rica is. It's a paradise. But if they have no gold, they cannot print money that could be traded with other nations?)

I'm not criticizing gold and silver. I love gold and silver. They are very awesome metals (I took 5 semesters of metalsmithing!) If I remember correctly, silver conducts electricity the best of all metals (but it oxidizes), so gold-plated silver wire sounds like the perfect answer to permanent motors/generators to me.

Yes, gold and silver are more valuable now than 40 years ago. That is by inflation, mostly. And the fact that they have any value at all is by agreement, right? Think of the value of a ton of organic black dirt full of soil microorganisms.

A good loaf of bread that was $0.50 in 1970 is now $4.65 - that's up 930%
An ounce of silver was $5, now it is $30 - that's up 600%
Oil was $15/barrel; now $85 - 567%
Acre of farm land, 1970 to now: $420 to $6800 - up 1620%
US minimum wage 1970 and 2012: $1.60 and now $7.25 - that's up 453%

All of these numbers are abstract. The dollars are worth less and less (buying power) so it appears that the commodities value is rising.

Pretty much anything you go back and get in your time machine is more "valuable" now, but is that really the devaluation of the buying power of a dollar, or the commodity value rising - or both?

These are agreements that we have made. Or maybe a better way to say it is that the Financial Elite have eroded the value of money causing inflation, ad infinitum. Inflattion happened even during times we had gold-backed money, so the backing did not cause or prevent inflation. Inflation is caused by "printing" more and more and more - making every dollar worth-less.

Dennis