Gold standard

For other uses, see Gold standard (disambiguation).

Two gold 20 kr coins from the Scandinavian Monetary Union, which was based on a gold standard. The coin to the left is Swedish and the one on the right is Danish.
Gold certificates were used as paper currency in the United States from 1882 to 1933. These certificates were freely convertible into gold coins.

A gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the early 1920s, and from the late 1920s to 1932[1][2] as well as from 1944 until 1971 when the United States unilaterally terminated convertibility of the US dollar to gold, effectively ending the Bretton Woods system.[3] Many states nonetheless hold substantial gold reserves.[4][5]

Historically, the silver standard and bimetallism have been more common than the gold standard.[6][7] The shift to an international monetary system based on a gold standard reflected accident, network externalities, and path dependence.[6] Great Britain accidentally adopted a de facto gold standard in 1717 when Isaac Newton, then-master of the Royal Mint, set the exchange rate of silver to gold too low, thus causing silver coins to go out of circulation.[8] As Great Britain became the world's leading financial and commercial power in the 19th century, other states increasingly adopted Britain's monetary system.[8]

The gold standard was largely abandoned during the Great Depression before being re-instated in a limited form as part of the post-World War II Bretton Woods system. The gold standard was abandoned due to its propensity for volatility, as well as the constraints it imposed on governments: by retaining a fixed exchange rate, governments were hamstrung in engaging in expansionary policies to, for example, reduce unemployment during economic recessions.[9][10]

According to a 2012 survey of 39 economists, the vast majority (92 percent) agreed that a return to the gold standard would not improve price-stability and employment outcomes,[11] and two-thirds of economic historians surveyed in the mid-1990s rejected the idea that the gold standard "was effective in stabilizing prices and moderating business-cycle fluctuations during the nineteenth century."[12] The consensus view among economists is that the gold standard helped prolong and deepen the Great Depression.[13][14] Historically, banking crises were more common during periods under the gold standard while currency crises were less common.[2] According to economist Michael D. Bordo, the gold standard has three benefits that made its use popular during certain historical periods: "its record as a stable nominal anchor; its automaticity; and its role as a credible commitment mechanism."[15] The gold standard is supported by many followers of the Austrian School, free-market libertarians, and some supply-siders.[16]

  1. ^ Eichengreen, Barry (2019). Globalizing Capital: A History of the International Monetary System (3rd ed.). Princeton University Press. pp. 7, 79. doi:10.2307/j.ctvd58rxg. ISBN 978-0-691-19390-8. JSTOR j.ctvd58rxg. S2CID 240840930.
  2. ^ a b Eichengreen, Barry; Esteves, Rui Pedro (2021), Fukao, Kyoji; Broadberry, Stephen (eds.), "International Finance", The Cambridge Economic History of the Modern World: Volume 2: 1870 to the Present, vol. 2, Cambridge University Press, pp. 501–525, ISBN 978-1-107-15948-8
  3. ^ Eichengreen, Barry (2019). Globalizing Capital: A History of the International Monetary System (3rd ed.). Princeton University Press. pp. 86–127. doi:10.2307/j.ctvd58rxg. ISBN 978-0-691-19390-8. JSTOR j.ctvd58rxg. S2CID 240840930.
  4. ^ "Gold standard Facts, information, pictures Encyclopedia.com articles about Gold standard". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2015-12-05.
  5. ^ William O. Scroggs (11 October 2011). "What Is Left of the Gold Standard?". Foreignaffairs.com. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  6. ^ a b Eichengreen, Barry (2019). Globalizing Capital: A History of the International Monetary System (3rd ed.). Princeton University Press. pp. 5–40. doi:10.2307/j.ctvd58rxg. ISBN 978-0-691-19390-8. JSTOR j.ctvd58rxg. S2CID 240840930.
  7. ^ Esteves, Rui Pedro; Nogues-Marco, Pilar (2021), Fukao, Kyoji; Broadberry, Stephen (eds.), "Monetary Systems and the Global Balance of Payments Adjustment in the Pre-Gold Standard Period, 1700–1870", The Cambridge Economic History of the Modern World: Volume 1: 1700 to 1870, vol. 1, Cambridge University Press, pp. 438–467, ISBN 978-1-107-15945-7
  8. ^ a b Eichengreen, Barry (2019). Globalizing Capital: A History of the International Monetary System (3rd ed.). Princeton University Press. p. 5. doi:10.2307/j.ctvd58rxg. ISBN 978-0-691-19390-8. JSTOR j.ctvd58rxg. S2CID 240840930.
  9. ^ Eichengreen, Barry (2019). Globalizing Capital: A History of the International Monetary System (3rd ed.). Princeton University Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctvd58rxg. ISBN 978-0-691-19390-8. JSTOR j.ctvd58rxg. S2CID 240840930.
  10. ^ Polanyi, Karl (1957). The Great Transformation. Beacon Press. ISBN 978-0-8070-5679-0.
  11. ^ "Gold Standard". IGM Forum. 12 January 2012. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
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  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference :10 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference :12 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).