Gold, Peace, and Prosperity

by Ron Paul

The book is a quick read that covers the whole history of monetary destruction, providing information that most people have never heard or thought about. In that sense, it is the perfect conversation starter, and it could inspire more reading and activism for sound money. Author Ron Paul has been the leading champion of sound money in the Congress. He explains why sound money has meant the gold standard. The monograph is written in the clearest possible terms with the goal of explaining the basics of paper money and its effects of inflation, business cycles, and government growth. He maps out a plan to bring about a dollar that is as good as gold, one that would be protected against manipulation by government and central bankers. Part of that strategy is the minting of a new gold one but the more far-reaching plan involves a redefinition of the dollar and complete monetary competition. This monograph first appeared in 1981, and it has been in wide distribution ever since. But we've never had an edition this beautiful, this affordable, and this handy.

Genres: Economics, Politics, Money, Nonfiction

91 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Republican United States Congressman from Lake Jackson, Texas, a physician, a bestselling author, and a former 2008 U.S. presidential candidate.
Originally from the Pittsburgh suburb of Green Tree, Pennsylvania, he studied at Duke University School of Medicine; after his 1961 graduation and a residency in obstetrics and gynecology, he became a U.S. Air Force flight surgeon, serving outside the Vietnam War zone. He later represented Texas districts in the U.S. House of Representatives (1976–1977, 1979–1985, and 1997–present). He entered the 1988 presidential election, running as the Libertarian nominee while remaining a registered Republican, and placed a distant third.

Paul has been described as conservative, Constitutionalist, and libertarian. He advocates a foreign policy of nonintervention, having voted against actions such as the Iraq War Resolution, but in favor of force against terrorists in Afghanistan. He favors withdrawal from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the United Nations, citing the dangers of foreign entanglements to national sovereignty. Having pledged never to raise taxes, he has long advocated ending the federal income tax, scaling back government spending, abolishing most federal agencies, and removing military bases and troops from foreign soil; he favors hard money and opposes the Federal Reserve. He also opposes the Patriot Act, the federal War on Drugs, No Child Left Behind, and gun control. Paul is strongly pro-life, and has introduced bills to negate Roe v. Wade, but affirms states' rights to regulate or ban abortion, rather than federal jurisdiction.

While Paul was a leading 2008 presidential candidate in some Republican straw polls, he saw substantially less support in landline opinion polls and in the actual primaries. Strong internet grassroots support was indicated by his popularity as a web search term, his lead in YouTube subscriptions, and, on December 16th 2007, the largest one-day fundraiser in U.S. political history, netting over $6 million in 24 hours through an independently organized effort. His book commenting on the presidential run, The Revolution: A Manifesto, became a bestseller immediately upon release and went on to be #1 on the New York Times nonfiction best sellers list.

Judge Andrew Napolitano calls him "the Thomas Jefferson of our day."

Ron Paul, the New York Post once wrote, is a politician who "cannot be bought by special interests."

"There are few people in public life who, through thick and thin, rain or shine, stick to their principles," added a congressional colleague. "Ron Paul is one of those few."

Reviews

[Nouha Bouazizi]

Well this is outdated, but gives a general introduction on economic inflation. Basically:

The business cycle is deadly; inflation, deflation, depression and all over again. It results in redistribution of wealth in an "anti-Robin hood" movement. The government benefits greatly and won't stop since it's in power.

"Government is the only agency that can take a useful commodity like paper, slap some ink on it and make it completely worthless"

So, Ron _yes imma call him by his first name cus I spent two weeks on his eighty-page 'booklet'_ calls for:
the use of a Gold Standard; a gold currency.
Many still promote the idea. Arguments are: limiting the government intervention, there'll be no inflation ( can't print gold ), it's scarce, thus there's no way for fraud.

I don't know.. is this a good solution? We'd move real slowly up the economic ladder if productivity is paid its exact value in gold. Inflation, on the other hand, makes awesome enterprises possible.

[Jose Alvarez-Perez 🫳 · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a scam service liquidation is... It's clear to me that teaching racialist/poverty stories in the Composition course without the gold seizure context isn't academic, and bringing this confusion, this disregard for previous education requirements, to the US government chambers is deadly internationally. Only an asset can be liquidated, the employer's asset agreed weight for your service per hour.

Can’t we stop hoarding cash to transform the conversation into whether government should seize your assets weight to fund programs that the "Four Horsemen" already dismissed as unconstitutional? Can’t we employ liquidation method simply for liquidating weight decimals while we trade entire weights for entire weights? Seems like we aren’t taking the civil measures before the official reform explained by Ron Paul…

[Patrick Ritchie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid thesis, but a bit dated especially with the rise of Bitcoin.

[Cormacjosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although written in 1981, this pamphlet written by Dr. Ron Paul is still relevant to the times we are facing today. The numbers need to be updated, and its obvious that predictions of monetary collapse in the 1980’s were slightly off, but all the evidence is clear that such a collapse is coming, it was only delayed.

That’s why this short, barely 80 page booklet is so important, so clear and so concise as to the problems that we as a Nation are facing today.

I can’t recommend this enough. It is a very short read but loaded with essential facts about history and economic law, something of which the education of this country is sorely lacking.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the most concise explanation of fractional reserve banking, and systematic currency debasement I have ever read. It very clearly shows the transfer of wealth from the hands of the poor and middle class to the wealthy. It also makes some chilling predictions that we are now seeing come to pass, which is shocking considering it was written in 1981. I recommend this be added to the bookshelf of anyone interested in liberty, economics, or history. Thanks Dr Paul, and thanks LvMI for making this seminal work available.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent introduction to understanding inflation and how it effects the economy and our standard of living. It's packed with historical lessons showing that eventually, the printing of money will have to cease and we will have to deal with the pain of the poor decisions our government has made in terms of our monetary policies. Best go buy some gold & silver for those rainy days that are sure to come.

[John Ulrich · Rating 5 out of 5]

To think this was written 30 years ago and it holds just as true today as then. This was written only ten years after Nixon put the final nail in the coffin by taking us 100% off any gold standard. This is a quick easy read, but the lessons to be learned are innumerable. Take a couple hours to read this important document on the absolute necessity of having a currency backed by precious metals.

[Jason Hallmark · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little dated because of the time that it was initially published, but the core arguments and observations are sound. This book is available as a podcast and reading along side the audio really helped. If this were to be updated to reflect policy developments since the initially publishing, this would become a powerful tool to advance the cause of sound economic policy making.