> Gold is 'first place' and has been a symbol of value for most of our recorded history.
Actually it has not. Not in Mesoamerican civilizations (Aztec, Mayans). Also not for the Chinese, who used silver for currency (and gold for ceremonial purposes). Around the Mediterranean, gold became a currency 'only' around 500BC with the Lydians—which is a very long time after the first economic records we have, which take back to Ur III, the Babylonians (Hammurabi), Ancient Egypt.
And when it was used, there were periods of economic stagnation due to its fixed supply:
See the links in the post about the problems with deflationary currencies. See also the links of events that were made worse by finite/deflationary currencies; reposting:
Actually it has not. Not in Mesoamerican civilizations (Aztec, Mayans). Also not for the Chinese, who used silver for currency (and gold for ceremonial purposes). Around the Mediterranean, gold became a currency 'only' around 500BC with the Lydians—which is a very long time after the first economic records we have, which take back to Ur III, the Babylonians (Hammurabi), Ancient Egypt.
And when it was used, there were periods of economic stagnation due to its fixed supply:
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Bullion_Famine
Letters of credit / bills of exchange were used in the Middle Ages. Most regular folks worked on credit for their day to day lives:
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt:_The_First_5,000_Years
The gold standard only appeared in the 1800s:
* https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/249245.The_Power_of_Gold
And it had all sorts of problems with it:
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Depression
* https://archive.is/https://www.theatlantic.com/business/arch...