Last fall, SchiffGold Precious Metals Specialist Dickson Buchanan attended the Gold Standard Institute’s conference in New York City. In this article, Dickson explains the philosophy of Keith Weiner, founder of the Gold Standard Institute (GSI). Like Peter Schiff, Weiner is deeply concerned about the destruction of the US dollar by the Federal Reserve’s monetary policies and believes we need to return to using gold as money. Any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of Peter Schiff or SchiffGold.
“The greatest problem facing the world today is monetary,†began The Gold Standard Institute’s founder Keith Weiner in his opening remarks at the New York City conference. Having successfully made the transition from technology entrepreneur to world-class monetary economist, Keith walked us through his business plan for the Gold Standard Institute (GSI). An advocate of what he calls the “unadulterated gold standard,†Keith gave a detailed presentation of the reasons why the gold standard is not only superior to the present fiat system but is also urgently necessary for today. Throughout his talk, several thought-provoking issues were raised that differentiated GSI from other sound money advocates.
Perhaps the most uncommon part of the presentation was Keith’s argument that “rising prices†are not the central problem we face, and therefore should not take up so much focus and energy. He argues that prices rising at 2% or so year over year is not painful or dynamic enough of an issue to wake people up to the dangers of centrally planned money and credit. Dismissing the conventional view of inflation, he offers an alternative definition that coheres with his broader theory: “Inflation is an expansion of counterfeit credit.†He explained that this is indeed terribly harmful and destructive to the economy, but it does not always lead to rising prices (nor are they the most harmful consequence of all).
