government having access to a printing press allows it to continue fighting until it completely destroys the value of its currency, and not just until it runs out of money.
(From The Bitcoin Standard)
All the European countries resorted to unsound currency to finance World War I, an event of unprecedented destruction that accomplished almost nothing except setting the stage for World War II. Far from being a "barbarous relic," (as Lord Keynes described it) the gold standard was a necessary constraint on the state.
With sound money, the government's war effort was limited by the taxes it could collect. With unsound money, it is restrained by how much money it can create before the currency is destroyed.
That destruction of the currency can include hyperinflation, a phenomenon unique to government money backed by nothing.
Tell all your Occupy Wall Street friends that they should be camping on the steps of their nearest Federal Reserve building. The Fed is the ultimate banking cartel.
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