Why Was the Gold Standard Abandoned?
Throughout history, and even into prehistory, gold has held a unique value to mankind. From the ancient pharaohs of Egypt to the coinage of ancient Rome, and to the gold standard of industrialized society, to today’s use of gold in electronics, gold has had value for every generation of civilized society. Gold has held both intrinsic and sentimental value, as both a decorative substance and a highly efficient conductor of electricity, as well as a malleable material that can be worked with for a number of industrial purposes. For this reason, many countries in the past relied on the gold standard of currency in order to keep their economic systems stable. How does a gold standard keep economic systems stable? We are in the era of fiat currency, which is essentially money for the sake of money; “paper money,” if you will. Fiat currency refers to currency that has no value in itself, but is simply a way of transferring value and bestowing value to others without any actual gold exchange
