19th-Century Panics and Free Banking

Could returning to the gold standard fix inflation? Nick Pell explains why this shiny solution might not be all it's cracked up to be on Skeptical Sunday.

Welcome to Skeptical Sunday, a special edition of The Jordan Harbinger Show where Jordan and a guest break down a topic that you may have never thought about, open things up, and debunk common misconceptions. This time around, we’re joined by writer and researcher Nick Pell!

Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/1279

On This Week's Skeptical Sunday:

• The gold standard wasn't some ancient monetary relic — it only emerged in 1821 when Britain pegged the pound to gold, with most industrialized nations hopping on board by the 1890s. It was abandoned during World War I because governments simply couldn't fund the war while maintaining gold convertibility.
• Today's global economy is roughly $115 trillion, while all the gold ever mined is worth about $28.5 trillion — roughly a quarter of global GDP. This massive mismatch means returning to gold would require either revaluing it to astronomical prices or causing catastrophic deflation.
• The appeal of the gold standard isn't really about the metal itself — it's about trust. People are drawn to money that doesn't depend on government promises or political whims. Gold represents certainty in an uncertain world.
• A return to gold would likely benefit net exporters like China while punishing net importers like the United States. Trade imbalances would transform into gold hoarding, creating constant liquidity crises that global commerce simply couldn't survive.
• The desire for "sound money" isn't misguided — it's the solution that's flawed. Better monetary policy rules, multi-asset pegs, or systems like Switzerland's debt-repayment requirements could provide the discipline people crave without nuking the world economy.
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