Gold standard could return to Utah as alternative credit source

Lawmakers in Utah have taken a significant step toward reintroducing the gold standard and the acceptance of gold and silver coins as legal tender in the state, Fox News reports. On Wednesday, the Utah House of Representatives passed a measure by a 47-26 vote that would protect individuals from capital gains taxes, should they sell gold, and mandate that the state government allocate resources to find alternative currencies. The bill is off to the state Senate where, should it be approved, reintroducing the gold standard will open a new line of alternative credit for Utah residents. "People sense that in the era of quantitative easing and zero interest rates, something has gone haywire with our monetary policy," said Jeffrey Bell, policy director for the Washington-based American Principles in Action and an author of the bill, told Fox News. The gold standard, first scaled back in 1933 by President Franklin Roosevelt and later dropped altogether by President Richard Nixon in 1971, has returned to public debate out of fear that the Federal Reserve's policies could lead to very high inflation.