I like gold as money, but I don't see the need for notes to have gold sprayed into them; I'd settle for the issuing entity (whether government or private) simply to redeem them in gold on demand. The way money used to be in America, so long ago now.
Like you, I'm skeptical as to whether Goldbacks would be sufficiently difficult to counterfeit. JC is thinking of offering a $1,000 prize to a successful attempt? Bah! That's way too little. If the idea catches on, there will be a MUCH greater incentive to counterfeit, and the people doing it won't submit their work for a blue ribbon, but will exchange it for non-fake money on a huge scale.
I haven't yet made it to the discussion of Gresham's Law, but doesn't it come into play only when government forces the acceptance of "bad money"? When money is free, each form of it finds its own level, and even a slowly-inflating currency would tend to be shunned for one whose value is stable. But we don't need gold-in-notes in place of notes-redeemable-for-gold to achieve that stability.
I'm glad people are out there coming up with alternatives to the increasingly-worthless official American money. Perhaps my skepticism about Goldbacks will prove unwarranted.
I like gold as money, but I don't see the need for notes to have gold sprayed into them; I'd settle for the issuing entity (whether government or private) simply to redeem them in gold on demand. The way money used to be in America, so long ago now.
Like you, I'm skeptical as to whether Goldbacks would be sufficiently difficult to counterfeit. JC is thinking of offering a $1,000 prize to a successful attempt? Bah! That's way too little. If the idea catches on, there will be a MUCH greater incentive to counterfeit, and the people doing it won't submit their work for a blue ribbon, but will exchange it for non-fake money on a huge scale.
I haven't yet made it to the discussion of Gresham's Law, but doesn't it come into play only when government forces the acceptance of "bad money"? When money is free, each form of it finds its own level, and even a slowly-inflating currency would tend to be shunned for one whose value is stable. But we don't need gold-in-notes in place of notes-redeemable-for-gold to achieve that stability.
I'm glad people are out there coming up with alternatives to the increasingly-worthless official American money. Perhaps my skepticism about Goldbacks will prove unwarranted.