Wizard's Alchemy

Fiat money is a government-issued currency that is not backed by a commodity such as gold. Most paper notes started as being backed by a reserve of valuable commodities, usually gold (the "Gold Standard"). Tying a currency to gold limits inflation and money suppl...

Social and market norms represent two fundamentally different relationship systems that operate by distinct rules:

• Social norms involve unwritten mutual obligations without immediate accounting
• Market norms rely on explicit exc...

On March 3rd 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt closed all the banks in the U.S.A. 

Banks held large amounts of Gold which were backing all the available U.S dollars. At those times there was a fixed exchange rate between U.S dollars and Gold.

Gold standard ended officially when pr...