Mexico’s proposed higher mining royalties could block nearly $7bn in investments
The Mexican government proposed raising mining royalties under the argument that metal prices have risen in recent years.
Congressman Ron Paul has told CNBC’s Newsline that ‘a large majority of American people favour going on a gold standard,’ claiming that the shift in public opinion is ‘a reflection of the efforts that we’ve made in educating people.’
Paul’s remarks arrive in response to reports that the Republican Party plans to establish a gold commission to explore re-establishing a link between gold and the US dollar.
A long-term devotee of Austrian economics Paul considers a return to the gold standard to be a near-panacea for the USA’s economic ills:
My main goal is to make sure we don’t have monopoly control over paper money or fiat money which causes all our problems…We could avoid some of these horrendous swings in the market place with bubbles building and then bursting and the transfer of wealth from the middle class to the wealthy. We could curtail the growth of big government by not allowing governments to monetize their debt. There would be so many advantages to having a commodity standard, and a gold standard would do it if it were run adequately.
Paul also acknowledged during the interview that the Republican Party’s decision to establish a gold commission may just be an attempt by party insiders to appease his supporters and others who seek a revival of the gold standard.
