Some Ultrametallists Predict that the Present International Dollar Standard Will Eventually Collapse and a Pure Specie Standard Will Be Reintroduced by Market Forces

A resurgence of interest in the 100 percent specie standard has recently developed in the midst of monetary crises and foreign exchange upheavals in the Western world during the past decade, which have been accompanied by a relatively rapid rise in the free market price of gold and other precious metals. Some ultrametallist economic and financial observers have predicted that the present international dollar standard will eventually result in such high rates of currency debasement that a pure specie standard will, ipso facto, be reintroduced into the monetary system by market forces.

One of the strongest academic advocates favoring a strict 100 percent specie program has been Murray N. Rothbard, professor of economics at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who wrote in favor of a pure gold standard as early as 1962. Rothbard contends that it is the only monetary system that is “compatible with the fullest preservation of the rights of property . . . [and] . . . assures the end of inflation, and with it, the business cycle.” An integral part of Rothbard’s thesis is the Austrian theory of the business cycle, which is interwoven throughout the works of the 100 percent advocates.

--Mark Skousen, Economics of a Pure Gold Standard, 4th ed. (Irvington-on-Hudson, NY: The Foundation for Economic Education, 2010), Kindle e-book.