> America solved it in the 1800s with commodity money; the US dollar was worth as much at 1900 as it was at 1800
What? No it wasn't. The value of gold relative to commodities or industrial products wasn't stable over that interval. It would be ridiculous if it had been. Not only were we in the throes of the Industrial Revolution, the California gold rush had just started a two-century boom in the quantity of gold [1].
> there weren't any financial collapses in the 1800s comparable in magnitude to the Great Depression or Global Financial Crisis
Free banking was a constant drumbeat of bank failures, inflation and scams [2][3]. (Also financial crises [4].)
If you want a country that didn't have a civil war in the 19th century to go off, grab a copy of Bagehot's Lombard Street [5]. It's written by arguably the world's first modern central banker. He battles credit crises, bank runs, inflation, et cetera. All while Britain was firmly on the gold standard.
What? No it wasn't. The value of gold relative to commodities or industrial products wasn't stable over that interval. It would be ridiculous if it had been. Not only were we in the throes of the Industrial Revolution, the California gold rush had just started a two-century boom in the quantity of gold [1].
> there weren't any financial collapses in the 1800s comparable in magnitude to the Great Depression or Global Financial Crisis
Free banking was a constant drumbeat of bank failures, inflation and scams [2][3]. (Also financial crises [4].)
If you want a country that didn't have a civil war in the 19th century to go off, grab a copy of Bagehot's Lombard Street [5]. It's written by arguably the world's first modern central banker. He battles credit crises, bank runs, inflation, et cetera. All while Britain was firmly on the gold standard.
[1] https://elements.visualcapitalist.com/200-years-of-global-go...
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_central_banking_in_...
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildcat_banking
[4] https://home.treasury.gov/about/history/freedmans-bank-build...
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lombard_Street:_A_Description_...