Great write up about a great book. A few minor quibbles. Sweden was on a copper standard, not silver. More important to your point, a significant chunk of economic activity today happens in countries with a fixed rate: the eurozone. Both the instability of the Euro (sovereign debt crisis), its relative underperformance (can't do stimulus), and its susceptibility to democratic backlash (populism) all point to the gold standard as being something that makes even the market unhappy in the medium to long run.
I agree completely with your point about the Eurozone - a great example of where exchange rates, monetary policy, and democracy run into each other! The difference, I suppose, is that the Euro does exist within a wider ecosystem of floating rates - unlike the classical gold standard.
Great write up about a great book. A few minor quibbles. Sweden was on a copper standard, not silver. More important to your point, a significant chunk of economic activity today happens in countries with a fixed rate: the eurozone. Both the instability of the Euro (sovereign debt crisis), its relative underperformance (can't do stimulus), and its susceptibility to democratic backlash (populism) all point to the gold standard as being something that makes even the market unhappy in the medium to long run.
Thank you, Joe! I believe Sweden was on a silver and copper standard from 1624-1776, but shifted to a pure silver standard then, before joining gold in 1873 (Rodney Edvinsson, https://www.riksbank.se/globalassets/media/forskning/monetar-statistik/volym1/2.)
I agree completely with your point about the Eurozone - a great example of where exchange rates, monetary policy, and democracy run into each other! The difference, I suppose, is that the Euro does exist within a wider ecosystem of floating rates - unlike the classical gold standard.