[ti:How Gold Became the Gold Standard for Trade] [ar:Christopher Cruise] [al:Economics Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English Economics Report. [00:04.50]The best example of something [00:06.69]is often called the "gold standard." [00:09.88]It sets the standard against [00:11.61]which other things are measured. [00:14.30]In economics, the term describes [00:16.79]how major trading nations once used gold [00:20.83]to set currency values and exchange rates. [00:25.16]Many nations continued to use the gold standard [00:28.94]until the last century. [00:31.13]In the United States, [00:33.12]people could exchange paper money for gold [00:36.86]from the eighteen seventies until nineteen thirty-three. [00:41.84]Then-President Richard Nixon [00:44.47]finally disconnected the dollar from the value of gold [00:48.63]in nineteen seventy-one. [00:51.13]From time to time, some politicians [00:54.81]call for a return to the gold standard. [00:57.65]But in nineteen seventy eight, [01:00.84]the International Monetary Fund [01:03.37]ended an official gold price. [01:06.09]The IMF also ended the required use of gold [01:10.87]in transactions with its member countries. [01:14.31]Since that time, gold prices have grown. [01:19.14]But the growth was uneven. [01:22.02]Prices -- uncorrected for inflation [01:25.36]¨C continue near record highs. [01:27.95]Gold is trading above one thousand [01:31.39]six hundred dollars an ounce. [01:34.06]An ounce is about twenty-eight grams. [01:37.71]But people keep buying. Some people are "gold bugs." [01:43.12]These are investors who say people should buy gold [01:47.85]to protect against inflation. [01:50.46]People have valued gold for thousands of years. [01:54.78]The soft, dense metal [01:58.09]polishes to a bright yellow shine [02:00.98]and resists most chemical reactions. [02:05.06]It makes a good material for money, political power [02:10.14]-- and, more recently, electrical power. [02:13.62]If you own a device like a mobile phone or a computer, [02:18.40]you might own a little gold in the wiring. [02:21.92]The gold standard was the subject of [02:25.41]one of the best-known speeches [02:27.26]in American political history. [02:30.40]It took place at the eighteen ninety-six [02:33.93]Democratic National Convention in Chicago. [02:37.42]William Jennings Bryan wanted the country [02:41.46]to use both gold and silver as money. [02:45.11]The idea was to devalue the dollar [02:49.39]and make it easier for farmers to pay their debts. [02:54.00]Here is Bryan reading his speech much later, [02:57.65]in nineteen twenty-one. [02:59.74]WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN: "You shall not press down [03:02.38]upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns. [03:05.36]You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold." [03:11.09]The speech made William Jennings Bryan famous. [03:14.38]He was a presidential candidate three times. [03:18.12]But he never won. [03:20.45]And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, [03:25.78]written by Mario Ritter. [03:27.93]To read and hear news and information [03:31.57]for people learning English, and for transcripts [03:35.85]go to 51voa.com. [03:39.67]You can also find MP3s and now PDFs of [03:44.80]our programs for e-readers. [03:46.83]And follow us on Facebook, YouTube and iTunes [03:51.61]at VOA Learning English. [03:55.21]I'm Christopher Cruise.