The Breakdown: Should the US Return to the Gold Standard?

The Breakdown: Should the US Return to the Gold Standard?

The Breakdown: Should the US Return to the Gold Standard?

Congressman Ron Paul is a supporter of it. Arizona shooter Jared Lee Loughner had a sick obsession with it. What would happen if the United States switched back to the gold standard?

Chris Hayes
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Congressman Ron Paul is a supporter of it. Arizona shooter Jared Lee Loughner had a sick obsession with it. Eliminated by Richard Nixon following the fiscal strains of the Vietnam war, the gold standard has recently returned to the spotlight. On this week’s edition of The Breakdown, DC Editor Chris Hayes and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Liaquat Ahamed discuss what would happen if America switched back to the gold standard for our currency.

The Breakdown Congressman Ron Paul is a supporter of it. Arizona shooter Jared Lee Loughner had a sick obsession with it. Eliminated entirely by Richard Nixon following the fiscal strains of the Vietnam war, the gold standard has recently returned to the spotlight. But how does the standard work, and what would happen if America switched back to the gold standard for our currency? On this week’s edition of The Breakdown, DC Editor Chris Hayes and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Liaquat Ahamed explore the pros and cons of backing our dollars with gold.

Resources

The first chapter of Ahamed’s pulitzer prize-winning book Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World.
Paul Krugman blogpost, What’s our gold standard?
Ron Paul on the gold standard.
More on Loughner’s obsession with the gold standard.

Subscribe to The Breakdown on iTunes to listen to fresh takes on the confusing concepts that make politics, economics and government tick. A new episode every week!

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Chris Hayes Chris Hayes is the Editor-at-Large of The Nation and host of “All In with Chris Hayes” on MSNBC.


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