The U.S. has not used the gold standard since 1933, when the Emergency Banking Act forced Americans to give up gold and convert their holdings to dollars. Since then, there have been “gold bugs” advocating for a return to the gold standard. Their argument? A gold standard prevents governments from issuing too much money. In the last 89 years since the official gold standard was jettisoned, gold nonetheless remained a hedge for, and typically benefitted from, inflation – but 2021 was a different kind of inflation. Precious metals, including gold actually decreased in 2021.  Inflation in 2021 was driven by a number of factors, though more money through accommodative monetary policy and government payments were certai...

TAGS – North America, Macroeconomics