>What about gold as the universal equivalent commodity par
>excellence. Does the "flight from paper assets" to gold under
>economic duress confirm Marx's statement that a monetary system
>based on paper currencies backed by state power can never break free
>from gold as the basis of measuring value in a capitalist
>economy? The continuing attempt to break free from a commodity
>based monetary standard continually produces "currency crises."
>Remember Reagan's "Gold Committee" and the attempt of Bush the First
>to set up a commodity basket as the basis for a new international
>monetary system. The international monetary system is anarchy
>because capitalist commdity production requires a universal
>equivalent commodity to measure the exchange value of commodities
>produced. Fiat currencies are not universal measures of value, but
>only reflect the political force of the state backing the currency.
>Hence anarchy in the currency markets.
Compared to what, the 19th century? The current fiat regime is a lot more stable than that. I'm not saying we'll never see a generalized flight from paper assets, but it seems rather unlikely.
I'm always amazed how similar the analyses of Marxists and right-wingers can be.
Doug