I have to mention that the silver/gold standard was introduced by many authoritarian rulers because they control the gold/silver mines. This includes the Roman empire. As the supply of precious is limited it concentrates at the top and this was very desirable for monarchies.
The only way to get gold is to dig it out (mines owned by monarchs), borrow it with interest (which leads to the usual debt trap) or to sell your products and services to those who already have gold (which is heavily concentrated geographically and in the hands of the rich).
If it is mandated that you must use a certain currency, then this automatically leads to a power imbalance between those who have money and those who don't. If you need to buy food or pay for shelter then you can't wait, but the rich have all their basic needs met, they can afford to wait until you are desperate to accept any offer. This is why Austrian economists are kind of right when it comes to competition among currencies. A terrible currency can ruin an economy. However, they still insist on the gold standard because they love playing the monarchy game, they even admit it themselves.
Even in modern times the rich benefit from economic crashes because it means desperation and fire sales, in other words, discounts for those who already have more than they need for themselves.
Very true, and this is why right-libertarian ideas for increasing liberty are doomed to fail: all they ever do is change who's in charge, they never really question the system of putting people in power over each other.
The only way to get gold is to dig it out (mines owned by monarchs), borrow it with interest (which leads to the usual debt trap) or to sell your products and services to those who already have gold (which is heavily concentrated geographically and in the hands of the rich).
If it is mandated that you must use a certain currency, then this automatically leads to a power imbalance between those who have money and those who don't. If you need to buy food or pay for shelter then you can't wait, but the rich have all their basic needs met, they can afford to wait until you are desperate to accept any offer. This is why Austrian economists are kind of right when it comes to competition among currencies. A terrible currency can ruin an economy. However, they still insist on the gold standard because they love playing the monarchy game, they even admit it themselves.
Even in modern times the rich benefit from economic crashes because it means desperation and fire sales, in other words, discounts for those who already have more than they need for themselves.