gold, page-104844

I'm stating the obvious but it's clearly needed in your case. One opinion/theory doesn't mean it's right or correct.
Any dimwit can search the Net and find some opinion somewhere which matches their blinkered dogma.
There's plenty of other research and opinion from experts who have studied it in depth suggesting it was a confluence of events and circumstances and to put it down to one simple thing as you do is extremely naive and misguided I think.

Apart from that you failed to answer the questions in my post-did the 'gold standard' cause all those too ?
Clearly not.