Clarification of the Monetary Standard

William Gladstone, referring to the early nineteenth-century bullion controversy in England, once described the study of money as a fruitful source of insanity. In the modern era, the proliferation and confusion of such terms as non-fixed inconvertible paper standard, gold insolvency standard, managed inconvertible gold bullion standard, manipulated gold loan standard, and inconvertible paper money gold standard would seem to bear out the truth of his dictum. Tremendous changes in monetary theory and practice have occurred during the last century, and traditional terms and concepts have become vague and irrelevant.

Will E. Mason maintains that what this "money muddle" demands is a concept of a monetary standard sufficiently precise, reasonable, and realistic to permit isolation of the phenomenon and identification of its species. In this book, he discusses the classical monetary theories, traces the mounting confusion in terminology, and, after clearly defining the distinctions among monetary standards, policies, and objectives, presents a workable concept. A meticulous study of a complex subject, this book will be valuable to specialists and general readers alike.