Inescapable Role of Real Currency Convertibility

Abstract

The invention of paper money created a major new problem: how to ensure its value. Historically, the most reliable means of preserving and stabilizing the value of paper currency has been for those issuing paper money to guarantee to convert their notes, on demand, into real assets, at a specified rate of exchange. The most common asset used for this has been gold, which has been effective in preserving the value of currency over a century or more, but this has not prevented serious economic fluctuations. Consequently, for more than a century, economists have argued that it would be more effective to make currency convertible on demand into a range of commodities. Unfortunately, efforts to devise a means of achieving this have not succeeded to date.