For 182 years – 1789 to 1971 – the United States embraced the principle of a “stable dollar,” which, in practice, meant a dollar linked to gold. Before 1933, the parity value was 1/20.67th of a troy ounce. From 1933 to 1971, it was 1/35th of an ounce.

This was the “gold standard era.” The idea was simple: you wanted the dollar to be as stable, in monetary value, as possible. After centuries – actually, millennia – of experimentation, people had discovered that the best way to do this, in an imperfect world, was to link the value of the currency to gold.

It was really no different than the fifty-plus countries today that link their currencies to the euro, rather than indulging in some kind of homegrown “monetary policy” and an independent floating currency. The main difference was the “standard of value.” Before 1971, we used a “gold standard,” and today, many countries use a “euro standard.”

During the 18th and 19th centuries, the premier leader in gold-based monetary discipline was the Bank of England. From 1694 to 1914 (excepting wartime), the British pound was reliably fixed to gold at 3 pounds, 17 shillings and 10 pence per troy ounce.

Britain – which in the 17th century had been an economic backwater of no great significance – then became the financial capital of the world, the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, and ruler of the greatest global empire of the era.

Not bad.

Britain’s monetary leadership faltered after World War I. The devaluation of 1931 was followed by a period of floating currency, and then several devaluations after WWII.

After 1914, the world’s greatest example of gold standard discipline was the United States. Although there was a devaluation in 1933, the dollar remained linked to gold afterwards, and there were no more devaluations until 1971.

The United States, which had been secondary to Britain in 1914, then rose to be the world’s financial center, the leading example of industrial excellence, and ruler of what amounted to the greatest global empire of the era.

What a coincidence.

The New York Times, surveying the landscape of contemporary thought, told us recently that out of 40 “leading economists,” all 40 said that a gold standard “would not improve the lives of average Americans.’

At the end of the gold standard era, in the 1960s, the U.S. had the wealthiest middle class the world has ever seen.

It was so lovely, that nobody — not even president Richard Nixon, and Federal Reserve Chairman Arthur Burns — wanted it to end.

If the gold standard policy didn’t “improve the lives of average Americans,” how was it possible that, after 182 years, the average American was wealthier than ever?

It appears that 40 out of 40 “leading economists” never really bothered to think about that one.

And if you can “do better than a gold standard,” as Michael Bordo told the Times, then why – in four decades – has nobody done so?

Can you spot the end of the gold standard – in 1971 – on this chart? Maybe it is a coincidence.

We’re supposed to be impressed by this degree of consensus among the “experts.” My impression is that, when everyone thinks the same thing, then nobody is doing much thinking at all.

(Kitco News) – After months of speculation, a Nazi ghost train filled with gold, hidden in southwestern Poland, could be nothing more than a wild goose chase, according to researchers from the Krakow University of Science and Technology.

At a press conference in Walbrzych Tuesday, Professor Janusz Madej from Krakow’s Academy of Mining said a geological survey of the site had found no evidence of a train. For the past month, Madej’s team has been surveying the site of the supposed ghost train using magnetic and gravitation methods.

“There may be a tunnel. There is no train,” he said at the press conference.

The academy’s findings come four months after an official from the Polish Culture Ministry revealed that ground-penetrating radar confirmed the existence of a train.

At the September press conference, Piotr Zuchowski, the national heritage conservation officer for the Polish Culture Ministry, said that he was 98% convinced that a train was located in a hidden tunnel.

However, the two treasury hunters Piotr Koper, from Poland, and Andreas Richter, from Germany, who are credited with the find, remain convinced that there is something in the tunnel and said that the only way to be sure is to start digging.

Any actual excavation of the area could be delayed as unseasonal heavy snowfalls have blanketed Southern Poland.

The hidden tunnel and now the uncertainty of whether a train actually exists, is just the latest development in a story shrouded in mystery and intrigue — a story fit for the silver screen.

In August, it was revealed that the discovery of the tunnel was the result of a deathbed confession. In September, the Polish army was called in to secure the area and keep would-be treasure hunters out as it is believed that the tunnel could be booby trapped.

In September, firefighters were also called out the area to fight a mysterious brush fire.

The latest addition is also fitting as rumors of a lost Nazi train laden with gold have circulated throughout the region for more than 70 years.

It was believed a train, filled with gold and other looted treasure, fled Wroclaw near the end of the Second World War and was headed to the historic Ksiaz Castle, which dates back to the 13th century and is located just less than 10 kilometers from Walbrzych. Some historians have speculated the Nazis wanted to hide the gold in tunnels that were built underneath the castle during the occupation.