The New Gold Standard (eBook)

PAUL NATHAN is an exclusive contributor of articles on gold for kitco.com. With more than one million hits a day, kitco.com is the leading site for gold bugs worldwide. He wrote articles in the '70s for the Freeman and today writes a weekly commentary and market update for hard money enthusiasts and investors at paulnathan.biz. Nathan was there at the birth of the Libertarian Party, and his mother was the first national candidate to run on the Libertarian Party ticket in 1972. Nathan began writing on monetary and economic matters in 1968 while studying under Ayn Rand and Alan Greenspan at the Foundation for the New Intellectual.

Foreword.

Preface.

Part I: Gold and the Domestic Economy.

Chapter 1 Why Gold?

Gold: The King of Metals.

Gold Becomes the Standard of the World.

Too Little Gold--Or Too Much Paper?

The "Gold Prevents Prosperity" Myth.

In Gold We Trust.

Chapter 2 The Gold Standard: A Standard for Freedom.

What Money Is . . ..

. . . And What Money Is Not.

The Nature of Inflation.

The Fiat Standard at Work.

The Illusion of Prosperity.

The Meaning of the Gold Standard.

Chapter 3 Why Prices Have Not Skyrocketed.

On Human Action.

Quantity versus Values.

The Quantity of Money and the Gold Standard.

Too Little Fiscal Responsibility Chasing Too Many Politicians.

Chapter 4 The Inflation/Deflation Conundrum.

The Cause of the Recent Spike in Commodities.

Chapter 5 Central Banking in the Twenty-First Century.

The Rise of Populism.

A World in Transition.

The Fed of the Twenty-First Century.

Part II: The International Gold Standard.

Chapter 6 The Making of an International Monetary Crisis.

Monetary Theory: Past.

No Curb on Governments.

The Policy Makers.

The Process of Confusion.

Condemnation of Gold.

Evolution of the Theory.

Fractional Reserve Banking.

The Great Depression.

Devaluation in 1934.

Bretton Woods.

The Theory Projected.

"If at First You Don't Succeed . . .".

The SDR: As Good as Gold Again!.

Debt Amortization or Default: The False Alternative.

The Frightening Prospect of an International Debt.

Toward an International Fiat Reserve System.

Simply Repetitious.

The Real Meaning of Monetary Reform.

Chapter 7 The Death of Bretton Woods:.

A History Lesson.

Fixed Exchange Rates, Flexible Rules.

Export or Devalue: Institutionalizing the Devaluation Bias.

"Hot Money" Blues.

The Role of the Dollar under Bretton Woods.

Limited Gold--Unlimited Dollars: A Formula for Disaster.

Confidence versus Liquidity--A Two-Tier Tale.

Gold's Limitations: A Blessing in Disguise.

U.S. Balance of Payments Problems.

The First Straw.

On Selling One's Cake and Wanting It Too.

The Illusion of the Last Straw.

The High Price of Gifts.

On Domestic Dreams and International Nightmares.

Chapter 8 Who's Protected by Protectionism?

A Few Principles.

Enter Protectionism.

Trade between Nations.

To Protect the Balance of Trade.

To Protect Domestic Markets.

To Protect Domestic Wages.

Protectionism: The Greatest Threat to Prosperity.

The U.S. Balance of Payments Problem in Perspective.

The Protection Racket.

Part III: Returning to a Gold Standard.

Chapter 9 Are the Fiat and the Gold Standards Converging?

A Monetary System Needs to Know Its Limitations.

Reduced Leverage Equals Reduced Speculation.

The Process of Convergence.

A New Day.

Chapter 10 Gold: The New Money.

Rediscovering Gold.

The International "Walk" on Gold.

Competing Monies.

Chapter 11 How Not to Advocate a Gold Standard.

The Intrinsic Worth Argument.

The Store of Value Argument.

Gold Price Predictions.

The Legal Tender Argument.

The Official Price of Gold Fetish.

The Devaluation Syndrome.

The Stop Printing Money Argument.

The Demonetization Threat.

On Context, Cause, and Effect.

Part IV: Investing in Gold.

Chapter 12 Lessons of a Life-Long Gold Investor.

On Trading.

The Rules of the Game.

When to Be Flexible . . ..

. . . And When to Stick to Your Guns.

On Investing.

Shakeouts.

Turning a Disadvantage into an Advantage.

On Leverage.

When to Sell a Stock.

"Be Afraid. Be Very, Very, Afraid . . . ".

How to Own Gold 170.

Chapter 13 My Final Word on Gold.

On Bretton Woods II.

The New SDR Threat.

On QE2.

The Banking System of a Free Society.

In Conclusion.

Recommended Reading.

Bibliography.

About the Author.

Index.