Olivia Barr, Chapter 11, Question 6

While reading this chapter, I found the section about the gold standard to be very interesting. Although I've understood the concept of a backed currency for a long time, it didn't occur to me that using a backed currency could have such unstable effects on the economy. I found it troubling to learn that the gold backed currency used at the time of the great depression contributed to the depression. Previously, I've been told that buying in credit was the key problem leading into the recession, however after reading this chapter, and learning about the gold standard, it is very clear to me that the gold standard limited the number of options to fight the economic downturn. Ma also found it interesting that Argentina used a dollar backed currency for some time. All in all these sections of the chapter made it clear to me that using the gold standard, or backing one currency with another will likely lead to economic downturn.