The problems with a gold standard are 2 fold. Firstly, govts. can print as much of it as they like and therefore are loathe to return to such a constraining system. Inflation of the fiat money supply is like a universal tax on all dollar holders. Each newly created dollar makes each existing dollar worth just a little bit less. Secondly, banks don't make nearly as much money on a 100% backed gold standard. The "chaos" you mentioned previously was not an inherant feature of the gold standard. It was caused by the loaning out of more paper gold receipts (money of the day) than they had the gold to back. When the public began to realize this (usually at economic slowdowns) they rushed to the bank to convert their paper into he gold that it promised. Of course not everyone could redeem for gold that simply didn't exist and panics ensued.
Under a 100% backed gold standard, depositors who wish access to their money (gold)on demand, were not paid interest for their deposit, in fact they usually paid a storage fee. This made up for the lack of ability on the part of the bank to loan this money out. The only time a bank could make a loan, was if it had received a time based deposit from a customer. Thus the customer would agree to not demand his deposit until a certain date (much like CDs today). In exchange for this he would be paid a percentage of the interest charged to whomever borrowed the money. When there was greater demand for loans, the interest rate charged would increase and the amount paid to time depositors would follow until there was an equilibrium reached. It was only when deposits were not 100% backed that bank runs and financial panics ensued.