i think wealth is a factor of population. if gold were the standard, look at the extremes:
you are the last man on earth and you have a trillion tons of gold. but since you cant buy anything with it, it’s worthless.
conversely, there are a 100 billion people and only a pound of gold. you can’t cut the gold up into small enough chunks with which to buy stuff. so again, the gold is worthless.
printing money allows you to keep pace with the population and doesnt tie you to a physical resource. if you don’t print enough, money inflates and assets deflate. if you print too much, money deflates and assets inflate. but since money doesnt instantly inflate or deflate, the people who control and create the money are in the position of making the most from it. the people at the farthest end of the stream are at the mercy of every single person up the food chain. the ultimate handmedown system, the “trickle down theory” which works very well for those people at the top.
