Several lawmakers in the United States are now considering making gold and silver coins legal tender amid fears that the Federal Reserves monetary policies may result in a considerably drop of the dollar value.
Arizona is the main state pushing for residents to be able to use bullion as rightful currency, but several other states are also considering such a move, Bloomberg reports.
A similar legislation was passed in Utah in 2011, which according to the University of Central Oklahomas Loren Gatch is merely symbolic As Bloomberg notes, you still cant pay for groceries with gold in Utah.
Under the bill passed Monday by the Republican-led Arizona Legislature the state Department of Revenue is not forced to accept gold or silver as legal payment either.
The legislation is about signalling discontent with monetary policy and about what Ben Bernanke is doing, Gatch told Bloomberg. There is a fear that the government, or Bernanke in particular and the Federal Reserve, is pursuing a policy that will lead to the collapse of the dollar. Thats what is behind it.
Gold-backed money fell out of favour during World War I because the U.S. and many other countries needed to print more cash to pay for the war.