Switzerland went off the gold standard 22 years ago.
Switzerland went off the gold standard 22 years ago.
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Yeah, but didn’t their banks start handing over information to foreign governments on depositors much more recently? Information that supposed helped foreign governments (like the US) tax (and prosecute) people? One might argue that what the Swiss did is ethical, but in doing so they destroyed their reputation as a neutral banking haven with strong privacy protections.
The disadvantages of the gold standard are that it constrains national monetary policy and that the price of gold fluctuates if it is not kept stable by being the backing for the world’s major currencies with its value controlled by central banks working in concert. The better strategy is to accumulate gold in the national treasury and central bank but not use it formally as backing for your currency. And that is what Switzerland, the US, and other developed nations are mostly doing.