Agreed John but that synopsis works well in a simple economy...not the complex economy of modern times.Problem now is the people responsible for printing money are PRIVATE institutions, not public unbiased exchange entities. With a license like that, one tends to leverage to the moon and since value on the input side is non existent, over years the system has to return no a natural statsis or equilibrium...tis a undisputed law of nature, and when this happens such as now, we experience a credit/financial crises because one cannot indefinitely add on one side of a balance equation. Gold because of it's rareity and energy required to seek, mine and refine into numerous transportable maaleable forms makes it the ideal yardstick for any value transaction. Any other system such as our current one, although allowing you to sell your widgets and live, is in essence a massive wealth transfer from people who do all the work (energy input) to people who do nothing and whose only energy expenditure in the transaction is a printing press. Had the central bankers had gold for every dollar the energy input inherant in the gold would be transferred to the currency which would then balnce your energy input in producing your widget when you sell it. Trust me we will be returning to this system in the NEXT 5 years....it's the only way outta this mess! adios amigo