Title: Gold standard: net costs or net benefits for modern economies?

Authors: Cristian Păun; Vladimir Topan

Addresses: Academy of Economic Studies, Caderea Bastiliei, Nr. 6, Room 1203, Bucharest, Romania. ' Academy of Economic Studies, Caderea Bastiliei, Nr. 6, Room 1203, Bucharest, Romania

Abstract: The current financial crisis reopened the discussions around the sound reforms that should be addressed to the modern economies. The actions that should be taken in order to create a more stable global system are based on the concept of sound money, the existence of central banks and the characteristics and objectives of monetary policies. One of the most sensitive problems of modern economies and source of economic cycles is the fiat money used as medium of exchange and administrated by central banks without having an objective criterion to establish the necessary quantity of money. This paper will discuss the characteristics of sound money, the explanations of the evolution from gold standard toward fiat money and the main economic critics against a possible reintroduction of gold as medium of exchange as a solution to the current high financial instability.

Keywords: gold standard; economy; medium of exchange; net costs; net benefits; modern economies; financial crises; sound money; central banks; policy characteristics; policy objectives; monetary policies; economic cycles; fiat money; banking; monetary quantities; financial instability; public policy.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPLAP.2011.043858

International Journal of Public Law and Policy, 2011 Vol.1 No.3, pp.309 - 320

Published online: 31 Mar 2015 *

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