A return to the gold standard would be insane. The slow increase in gold supply wouldn't cover the ever expanding increase in goods and services, it would result in crazy deflation that would grind the economy to a halt as people horde gold. The gold standard was fine if you wanted a stable monetary system and an economy that grew linearly, but we have an economy that grows exponentially and needs to continue to grow exponentially in order not to fall into depression, hence fiat backed by debt is the only way forward, if even to our doom. Boom and bust is the only way.
Having said that, in a fiat-printing-fueled bubble, all non-fiat assets denominated in fiat will rise in value. Which is why I'm in gold/stocks.
WAF Price at posting:
91.0¢ Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
(20min delay)