Roubini : Supporters of a Gold Standard Are Lunatics and Hacks

"we are never going to go back to the Gold Standard " "this idea of a a gold standard is pushed every other day by these gold bugs is not even a theory it's a theology " says Economics Professor Roubini who sees the gold standard as dangerous. In fact, he said, the gold standard was a major reason for the Great Depression. "One of the major causes of the Great Depression was the existence of the gold standard and the return to the gold standard after World War I - that they restrained the ability of central banks to provide lender of last resort support to their banks created tight money, it created bank runs, and lead eventually to the Great Depression,"

Gold Standard in 1930s didnt allow preventing runs on banks

Professor Nouriel Roubini wrote via twitter " Gold Standard in 1930s didnt allow preventing runs on banks & sovereigns: it forced fiscal austerity that pushed Europe in runs & Depression "

"Hard money & keeping the gold standard, equivalent to today's EZ monetary union, pushed Europe into bank runs & the Great Depression in 1931" he added

Roubini : on why Gold Standard Wont Work

"A fixed exchange regime, even if it is not a gold standard… that world just doesn't work. Because in that world, monetary policy by definition instead of being countercyclical becomes procyclical," "Suppose you have a fixed exchange rate regime...it just exacerbates the business cycle." Roubini said in an interview with NetNet yesterday