The case for a 100 percent gold dollar

[Title Page and Publication Metadata]: Title page and publication details for Murray Rothbard's essay on the 100 percent gold dollar, including original publication history and copyright information. [Table of Contents]: A detailed table of contents listing the sections of the essay, ranging from the definition of the dollar to objections against 100 percent gold banking. [Preface (1991)]: Written thirty years after the original essay, this preface reviews the collapse of the Bretton Woods system and the failure of Keynesian and Friedmanite predictions regarding the price of gold. Rothbard argues that the subsequent era of fiat currency and the late-1980s Savings and Loan crisis demonstrate the inherent instability of fractional-reserve banking and the necessity of a 100 percent gold reserve. [The Case for a 100 Percent Gold Dollar: Introduction and Money and Freedom]: Rothbard introduces the argument for a pure gold standard, connecting monetary freedom to the broader framework of laissez-faire capitalism. He asserts that money is the nerve center of the economy and that state control over the unit of account allows for the domination of society and the hidden redistribution of wealth. [The Dollar: Independent Name or Unit of Weight?]: This section challenges the modern view of the dollar as an independent entity, arguing instead that it must be understood as a unit of weight for a specific commodity (gold). Rothbard utilizes Mises's regression theorem to explain how money originates from a non-monetary commodity on the free market and argues that a truly free market would likely result in parallel gold and silver standards rather than government-defined names. [The Decline from Weight to Name: Monopolizing the Mint and Encouraging Inflation]: Rothbard traces the historical decline of money from a weight-based commodity to a state-controlled name, identifying the government monopoly on minting as the first critical intervention. He explains how this monopoly led to debasement and how the state subsequently encouraged bank inflation by supporting fractional-reserve banking through central banks and the suspension of specie payments, effectively preparing the gold standard for its 20th-century collapse. [100 Percent Gold Banking]: Rothbard argues that fractional-reserve banking is essentially fraudulent, comparing it to embezzlement because it involves issuing multiple claims to the same physical assets. He advocates for a legal reform that treats bank deposits as bailments (warehouse receipts) rather than debts, requiring 100 percent reserves in gold to ensure the sanctity of property rights and the stability of the market. [Objections to 100 Percent Gold and Professor Yeager]: Rothbard addresses common objections to the 100 percent gold standard, such as the alleged need for a flexible money supply or price stabilization, arguing that the supply of money is irrelevant to its function as a medium of exchange. He critiques Leland Yeager's preference for fiat money, arguing that fluctuating exchange rates between national currencies are a form of partial barter that disintegrates the international division of labor and undermines economic calculation. [The 100 Percent Gold Tradition and The Road Ahead]: Rothbard places his proposal within the historical tradition of the Currency School and American hard-money advocates like the Jacksonians. He concludes by outlining a practical path toward a 100 percent gold dollar, which involves revaluing the gold stock to match the total money supply, liquidating the Federal Reserve, and eventually replacing national currency names with units of weight like the gold gram. [Index and Institutional Information]: An alphabetical index of names, concepts, and historical events mentioned in the text, followed by contact information for the Ludwig von Mises Institute.