It has been three decades since the Gold Standard was even seriously thought about in America, and yet in recent days it has made a huge comeback. While this all may be nothing more than talk at present, it looks set to be more than that in the near future. At least, there is the possibility that such a thing could happen.
It should be noted that this is very far from becoming reality – at least at present. However the Republicans have chosen to add the proposal to look into reinstating the Gold Standard to their party policy. This has understandably drawn opinions from every quarter. Some people hate the idea, others say it simply won’t work, while still more believe it could be the magic bullet that could solve all our current problems.
Regardless of where your own opinion lies, the odds of the return of a Gold Standard being a magic bullet are of course very long indeed. It’s taken years of bad decisions to get into the mess we’re all in now. Returning the US to the Gold Standard isn’t going to solve them, not even in the US, let alone anywhere else.
Some would say this idea by the Republicans is nothing more than that. Of course we might look back in decades to come and see this as the starting point of a good move in the right direction. In the end, who knows which course of action will be the best one to take?
While the Gold Standard suggestion is nothing more than a potential part of the Republican policy, it could be the start of a move in an interesting direction. The very idea of discussing it with any seriousness could have consequences we hadn’t foreseen. We’re going to keep an eye on this particular story to see if it does make it into policy – and to see how the public at large react to it.