June 28, 1914. An archduke is assassinated in Sarajevo. Within six weeks, every major power in Europe is at war. Within six weeks of that, the greatest monetary system humanity had ever created — one that delivered 44 years of 0.1% average inflation — is dead.
In this episode, I break down the classical gold standard: what it actually was, how it mechanically worked on a Tuesday afternoon in 1895, and why it enabled four decades of unprecedented stability, global trade, and technological innovation.
Then I walk through how World War I murdered it — and make the case that if the gold standard had survived, the war itself might have lasted months instead of years.
We've been living in the wreckage ever since. Your dollar has lost 87% of its purchasing power since 1971. And the principles that protected wealth during the golden era still apply today.
In this episode:
- The monetary chaos the gold standard replaced
- What 0.1% annual inflation actually meant for savers and builders
- How the price-specie-flow mechanism worked (explained simply)
- How trade exploded when currency risk disappeared
- The honest downsides: deflation, rigidity, and the Cross of Gold
- How governments killed convertibility to finance total war
- From Bretton Woods to Nixon's "temporary" gold window closure
- 5 investment principles for a post-gold standard world
Read the full written deep dive on The Timeless Investor Substack:
https://thetimelessinvestor.substack.com
Watch on YouTube with historical visuals:
https://www.youtube.com/@TheTimelessInvestor
Learn about Lombard Equities Group:
https://www.lombardequities.com
