Gold Standard Links

There is talk -- not fever-swamp debate but serious discussion stimulated by the president of the World Bank --of bringing back the gold standard in some capacity.

Zoellick had a lot of sensible things to say as you can read here for yourself.

Robert Harding, writing for the FT, noted that gold "prices have risen from close to $200 a decade ago to almost $1,400 today. The rapid rise in recent years reflects fears that unconventional central bank policies – such as last week’s move by the US Federal Reserve to expand its balance sheet by another $600bn – could lead to inflation."

For some historical background, you might go here or here.

For the Austrian school's take on the significance of gold, go here.

For informed speculation on where the price of gold is headed, you might look to a Bloomberg story yesterday by Nicholas Larkin.

But back to Zoellick. Who the heck is he? Who was he before he was put in charge of the World Bank? Here'a the official bio.

Or you could listen to this fellow talking about the history of the institution.

And here are some final thoughts specifically on how a return to a gold standard might be accomplished.