In the midst of continued monetary turmoil and the search for an ideal monetary system, the debate over gold and its role in the global economy rages. Professor Mark Skousen, financial economist, university professor, and author, offers a full discussion over the pro"s and con"s of returning to the international gold standard in this third edition of his classic work on gold. How would a pure gold standard work? What are the benefits and costs of returning to gold? What do the great economists (Adam Smith, John Maynard Keynes, Paul Samuelson, Ludwig von Mises, Milton Friedman, Murray Rothbard) say about the gold standard? From the 1988 second edition: "There is an increasing uneasiness about the international fiat "dollar" standard and its apparent inability to provide stability in the foreign exchange markets, even in times of low inflation. Without some kind of independent monetary yardstick, the world"s currencies seem to be at sea without a rudder." From the 1996 third edition: "Gold isn"t just another commodity. Gold is money. Some day an international monetary crisis may rudely awaken us to this reality."