How would we do that, given how badly it's been manipulated for the past 30-90 years?"
Define the US dollar as consisting of a specified fraction of an ounce of gold; mint gold coins in denomination that reflect the specified fractions; treat the outstanding dollars as claims on the gold on hand and deliver it up in the form of coins in exchange for paper. It would be simple to do and could be implemented in a short time by a Congress that had the political will to do so.
Not a gold standard; a gold money system. The problem is that it would reduce the power of the central government and increase the power of the private citizen.
At this point, I doubt that either Congress or the American people recognize how serious the risk is of a monetary meltdown. Gold money would preclude the system from collapsing even if many people lost significant amounts of money (on derivatives and private credits). In the current system, we are exposed to waking up Monday morning with worthless paper where we thought we had money or a credit balance in our checking account.
You're right. But at least we understand how serious the risk is. So, once Greenspan's market manipulation power runs out once and for all, and gold REALLY rallies, those paying attention will be rewarded for it.
And by the way, all you genius CNBC "expert" market analysts- you want to see a REAL budding bull market? Check this out. Bull markets don't start when Maria Bartiromo screams, "This is a bottom! BUY BUY BUY!" Market bottoms come when the majority of the sheeple aren't expecting it.