Paper vs Gold

By Doug Casey

[P]aper money is an excellent means for governments to tax people indirectly, surreptitiously, through inflation. That’s one reason central bankers love paper money, but also, phony economic theories, like those of John Maynard Keynes, hold that the government not only can but should meddle with the economy, and the ability to print paper money gives them a means to do that.
In today’s world, not only do people around the world take it for granted that paper is money, but that it should be so.
But it’s all nonsense. It’s one reason for taking a gloomy view of humanity – people will believe almost any kind of claptrap, if the story is retailed by those in authority.
After the current system collapses, as every paper money system in the past has collapsed, some form of money will have to replace it, and it’s almost certainly going to be gold....Dollars today say "Federal Reserve Note," not "XYZ Bank Note" on the back, because they aren’t redeemable for anything besides more Federal Reserve notes. That’s why today’s paper money substitutes are called fiat currencies; they have zero intrinsic value and are not redeemable for anything, but are accepted because the government will put you in jail if you don’t. It’s a fiat accomplished by force, not real value recognized by those who accept the notes.