The Breakdown: Should the US Return to the Gold Standard?

The Breakdown: Should the US Return to the Gold Standard?

The Breakdown: Should the US Return to the Gold Standard?

Congressman Ron Paul is a supporter of it. Arizona shooter Jared Lee Loughner had a sick obsession with it. What would happen if the United States switched back to the gold standard?

Facebook
Twitter
Email
Flipboard
Pocket

Congressman Ron Paul is a supporter of it. Arizona shooter Jared Lee Loughner had a sick obsession with it. Eliminated by Richard Nixon following the fiscal strains of the Vietnam war, the gold standard has recently returned to the spotlight. On this week’s edition of The Breakdown, DC Editor Chris Hayes and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Liaquat Ahamed discuss what would happen if America switched back to the gold standard for our currency.

The Breakdown Congressman Ron Paul is a supporter of it. Arizona shooter Jared Lee Loughner had a sick obsession with it. Eliminated entirely by Richard Nixon following the fiscal strains of the Vietnam war, the gold standard has recently returned to the spotlight. But how does the standard work, and what would happen if America switched back to the gold standard for our currency? On this week’s edition of The Breakdown, DC Editor Chris Hayes and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Liaquat Ahamed explore the pros and cons of backing our dollars with gold.

Resources

The first chapter of Ahamed’s pulitzer prize-winning book Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World.
Paul Krugman blogpost, What’s our gold standard?
Ron Paul on the gold standard.
More on Loughner’s obsession with the gold standard.

Subscribe to The Breakdown on iTunes to listen to fresh takes on the confusing concepts that make politics, economics and government tick. A new episode every week!

Thank you for reading The Nation

We hope you enjoyed the story you just read, just one of the many incisive, deeply-reported articles we publish daily. Now more than ever, we need fearless journalism that shifts the needle on important issues, uncovers malfeasance and corruption, and uplifts voices and perspectives that often go unheard in mainstream media.

Throughout this critical election year and a time of media austerity and renewed campus activism and rising labor organizing, independent journalism that gets to the heart of the matter is more critical than ever before. Donate right now and help us hold the powerful accountable, shine a light on issues that would otherwise be swept under the rug, and build a more just and equitable future.

For nearly 160 years, The Nation has stood for truth, justice, and moral clarity. As a reader-supported publication, we are not beholden to the whims of advertisers or a corporate owner. But it does take financial resources to report on stories that may take weeks or months to properly investigate, thoroughly edit and fact-check articles, and get our stories into the hands of readers.

Donate today and stand with us for a better future. Thank you for being a supporter of independent journalism.

Ad Policy
x