• gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de
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    2 days ago

    the gold market wasn’t “manipulated”, that was just a lie that Nixon came up with to justify ending the dollar-gold exchange system.

    actually the US government just wanted to have complete control over the dollar, including the ability to print more dollars if needed. if the dollar is bound to gold, that’s impossible because you can’t just print gold. by declaring an emergency (“to protect the dollars against the speculators”) they had enough reason in the eyes of the population to make the dollar a pure fiat currency.

    • SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca
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      2 days ago

      If you put all of the US dollars in the world in a pile on the left and all of the gold in the world in a pile on the right, the pile on the left (the dollars) would be worth 10x more than the pile on the right.

      There simply isn’t enough gold in the world for a gold standard to work without there being some kind of manipulation of either the value of the dollars or the value of the gold, or both. And if you’re manipulating the value of gold and/or the value of the dollar, what’s the point?

      The gold standard stuff is just conspiracy bullshit meant to create discontent and distrust in institutions based on ignorance of what money is. You’re told money should have intrinsic value so you feel like your employer is rewarding you with something of value when you’re paid. The reality is money represents debt, you did work and the money represents what you’re owed by your employer, not a reward. A system based on borrowed money matches the reality of your employer is borrowing your time and skills with that debt being paid once you’ve spent the money. A more realistic system based on money being debt isn’t as prone to manipulation as one based on a belief that shiny bits of metal have magical properties that you’re rewarded with because you’ve a good loyal servant.