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Re:The Unwinding of the Asian Currency Crisis by lupin_sansei on Monday September 24, 2007 @04:27AM (#58806)
> It would make much more sense to have a currency directly fixed to oil.

The price of oil goes up and down too much. People wouldn't want to loan or save a currency that changes value so much. The beauty with gold is the price would be stable, as to date no one's come up with a way of getting lots of it quickly and easily.

Re:The Unwinding of the Asian Currency Crisis by euccastro on Monday September 24, 2007 @05:18AM (#58826)
I know! Have a currency directly fixed to integers. Say, integers below X, where X is some reasonable granularity for the foreseeable future. There are exactly so many of them, and bank notes already have serial numbers, so it's technically possible! :>

People still keep searching for and mining gold. That was silly two thousand years ago, but they have the excuse that they didn't know better. I read that current methods used for mining gold in some countries (e.g. Argentina) are especially hazardous for public health and the environment of local populations.

Re:The Unwinding of the Asian Currency Crisis by mdemare on Monday September 24, 2007 @07:27AM (#58844)
You'd have to trust governments to not ever raise X. Because they will, and then you're in exactly the same situation as we're in now.
Re:The Unwinding of the Asian Currency Crisis by euccastro on Monday September 24, 2007 @01:59PM (#58980)
They can just as well 'unlink' from gold.