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Gold is a global commodity, finite to a point. One can indeed drive a commodity market short term, like the Hunt Brothers did silver in the late 70’s but eventually you just wind up with a pile of gold or dollars that will be offset each other in real value. The Hunts would have to stockpile the silver and ration it out to drive up the price. Consumers could find alternatives or refuse to buy silver. In the case of government, a stockpile of gold isn't so usefull if you have to spend on domestic programs, unless you are using it to back the currency you are distributing. Just sitting in Fort Knox and not being circulated via dollar bills isn't going to happen. Selling gold for currency is one way to bring real cash into the market, but why do that when you can just print money? I suppose a gold standard can be as good as the laws regulating the fed in the long term and politicians would find a way around it too. Honesty is the real basis of a currency and a gold standard would only be as honest as the people involved. I wonder how much gold is in Fort Knox these days.