Last updated on: 3/31/2016 12:49:10 PM PST
Should the US Return to the Gold Standard in Which Coin and Currency Are Backed by Gold?
Pro (Yes)
Pro
"[Reading question from listener] Would you support a return to a gold or commodity-based currency standard? Yes, I would. I think that, I think that would be very positive. And I understand the whole notion of competing currencies and how you could bring about a change from paper currency to commodity-based and I think that would be very very positive for the currency. It's the way the currency started out. It would bring increased value to the dollar as opposed to what we're facing, which is a monetary crisis where, hey, today our dollars are worth something and tomorrow they’re not and that’s just how quickly it happens."
Source: GaryJohnsonChannel, "Gold or Commodity Based Currency Standard vs Paper Monetary Crisis - Gary Johnson - Town Hall 11-2," youtube.com, Apr. 17, 2012
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None Found
No position found as of Mar. 30, 2016
None Found
No position found as of May 4, 2016
Not Clearly Pro or Con
"[Josh McElveen:] Can you envision a scenario that this country ever goes back to the gold standard?
Donald Trump: Well, in some ways, I like the gold standard. In some ways, I like the gold standard. There's something very nice about the gold standard. And you have to go back at right time when gold does the old crash-o. But, you know, there's something very nice about having something solid. We used to have a very very solid country because it was based on a gold standard. We don't have that anymore. There is something very nice about the concept of that. It would be very very hard to do at this point. And one of the problems is we don't have the gold. Other places have the gold."
Source: Pittsburgh’s Action News 4, "Conversation with the Candidate: Donald Trump," www.wtae.com, Mar. 31, 2015
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FORMER CANDIDATES
(Candidates who have withdrawn or who no longer meet our criteria appear below in black and white and in alphabetical order.)
Pro (Yes)
Pro
"[I]nstead of adjusting monetary policy according to whims and getting it wrong over and over again and causing booms and busts, what the Fed should be doing is, number one, keeping our money tied to a stable level of gold, and, number two, serving as a lender of last resort…
[L]ook, we had a gold standard under Bretton Woods, we had it for about 170 years of our nation’s history, and enjoyed booming economic growth and lower inflation than we have had with the Fed now."
Source: Charlotte Alter, "Transcript: Read the Full Text of the Fourth Republican Debate in Milwaukee," time.com, Nov. 11, 2015
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None Found
Withdrew on Feb. 20, 2016; no additional research done as of that date to determine candidate's position on this question.
Not Clearly Pro or Con
"[T]he fiscal gap, which sits at over $200 trillion and is continuing to grow. Now the only reason that we can sustain that kind of debt is because of our artificial ability to print money, to create what we think is wealth, but it is not wealth, because it's based upon our faith and credit. You know, we decoupled it from the domestic gold standard in 1933, and from the international gold standard in 1971, and since that time, it's not based on anything. Why would we be continuing to do that?"
Source: Kai Ryssdal, "Full Interview: Dr. Ben Carson on the Economy," www.marketplace.org, Nov. 17, 2015
Not Clearly Pro or Con
"I haven't given any deep thought to it. I'm listening to Jeff [Bell] and I'm learning [about his gold standard proposal]. I could tell you this much—it's not something in New Jersey I have to deal with everyday."
Source: Chase Brush, "Christie Says He 'Hasn't Given Any Deep Thought' to Bell's Gold Standard," politickernj.com, Oct. 20, 2014
None Found
Withdrew on Feb. 10, 2016; no additional research done as of that date to determine candidate's position on this question.
None Found
Withdrew on Dec. 21, 2015; no additional research done as of that date to determine candidate's position on this question.
Not Clearly Pro or Con
"But, look, I think the Fed is in a big trouble because they haven't addressed the number one issue that's hurting Americans and that's the fact that wages for the bottom 90 percent of the economy have been stagnant for 40 years. In the 25 years after World War II, up to 1971, wages grew by 85 percent in this country. People were -- were moving up in the middle class. There was a middle class. That's not happening any more, and in large measure, the Fed has manipulated the dollar so it doesn't have a standard. Tie the dollar to something fixed and if it's not going to be gold, make it the commodity basket. But here's what we've got to do. We absolutely have to get it where the people who go out there and work get something in return. And if the dollar keeps fluctuating, and this is as crazy as -- as is the price of bread, well, the fact is, people can't get ahead then."
Source: Washington Post, "Transcript: Fox Business Undercard GOP Debate," www.washingtonpost.com, Nov. 10, 2015
None Found
No position found as of Mar. 30, 2016
None Found
Withdrew on Feb. 1, 2016; no additional research done as of that date to determine candidate's position on this question.
None Found
Withdrew on Feb. 3, 2016; no additional research done as of that date to determine candidate's position on this question.
None Found
Withdrew on Mar. 15, 2016; no additional research done as of that date to determine candidate's position on this question.
None Found
No position found as of Mar. 29, 2016
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