11/29/11

Presidential hopeful Ron Paul appeared on Fox News last week to discuss his plan to return the United States - and potentially the world - to a gold standard.

For years, Paul has criticized central banks and their penchant for printing money during times of economic duress, a move he and others believe only serves to plunge the economy into a deeper hole.

By returning to a gold standard with a fixed rate of exchange, Paul believes that government influence would be taken out of the economy. Money would be created by the marketplace, not by governments printing money with impunity.

During the interview, Paul took a historical slant by pointing out that the United States returned to a gold standard after the Civil War without any catastrophic problems. However, he also acknowledged that the transition would not be overnight. His eventual goal is to once again "legalize the use of gold and silver as the Constitution dictates, rather than punishing the people who try to do [so]."

According to Paul, the first step toward this is to have a transitory period where gold and silver are redeemable for paper money.

Paul's belief that returning to a gold standard would eliminate the need for a Federal Reserve, as well as incapacitate shadowy government figures and agencies who print money without any Congressional oversight.

He also argued that the economic difficulties facing the United States and Europe over the last four years are a direct result of our departure from the gold standard.