 A good article by Mr. Lewis until he made the totally indefensible statement at the end which claimed that "The self-destruction of today’s Keynesians will lead to a new gold standard system, just as it always has in the past." Utter rubbish! Mr. Lewis is either completely ignorant of history or he has some unknown agenda.
Here is a partial list of nations that have gone through either a restructuring of their sovereign debt or outright default without switching to a gold standard system.
Antigua and Barbuda (1998–2005)
Argentina (1951, 1956, 1982, 1989, 2002-2005
Bolivia (1980, 1986, 1989)
Brazil (1937, 1961, 1964, 1983, 1986–1987, 1990)
Chile (1961, 1963, 1966, 1972, 1974, 1983
Costa Rica (1962, 1981, 1983, 1984)
Dominica (2003–2005)
Dominican Republic (1975-2001
Ecuador (1982, 1984, 2000, 2008)
El Salvador (1938, 1981-1996
Grenada (2004–2005)
Guatemala (1986, 1989)
Guyana (1982)
Honduras (1981)
Jamaica (1978)
Mexico (1982)
Nicaragua (1979)
Panama (1983, 1983, 1987, 1988-1989)
Paraguay (1986, 2003)
Peru (1969, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1984)
Surinam (2001–2002)
Trinidad and Tobago (1989)
Uruguay (1983, 1987, 1990)
Venezuela (1982, 1990, 1995–1997, 1998, 2004)
China (1939)
Japan (1942, 1946-1952)
India (1958, 1972)
Indonesia (1966, 1998, 2000, 2002)
Iran (1992)
Iraq (1990)
Jordan (1989)
Kuwait (1990–1991)
Myanmar (1984,1987, 2002)
Mongolia (1997–2000)
The Philippines (1983)
Solomon Islands (1995–2004)
Sri Lanka (1980, 1982, 1996)
Vietnam (1975)
Albania (1990)
Austria (1938, 1940, 1945)
Bulgaria (1990)
Croatia (1993–1996)
Germany (1932, 1939, 1948)
Hungary (1941)
Poland (1936, 1940, 1981)
Romania (1933)
Russia (1947, 1957, 1991, 1998)
Spain (1936-1939)
Turkey (1940, 1978, 1982)
Ukraine (1998–2000)
Yugoslavia (1983)
As stated, this is just a partial list. For the sake of brevity, no African nations are mentioned. i challenge Mr. Lewis to present us with a similar list of nations that switched from paper to gold.
 Commented 4230 days ago |
