1, gold coin standard system
The gold coin standard system is a monetary system with gold as the currency metal in circulation. It is a monetary system widely practiced in capitalist countries from the end of 19 to the first half of the 20th century. 18 16, Britain promulgated the (gold standard act) and began to implement the gold standard system, which promoted the transformation of gold into the world currency. Subsequently, Germany announced the implementation of the gold standard in 187 1, and countries such as Denmark, Sweden and Norway also implemented the gold standard in 1873. By the end of 19, this monetary system has been widely implemented in capitalist countries.
The main contents of the gold coin standard system include: ① using gold to specify the value represented by money, each currency has a legal gold content, and currencies of various countries have a certain price comparison according to the weight of gold contained; (2) Gold coins can be freely cast, and anyone can freely give gold bars to the state mint for casting into gold coins according to the legal gold content, or exchange gold coins from mint for equivalent gold bars; (3) Gold coins are currencies with unlimited legal compensation and the right to unlimited means of payment; The currency reserves of all countries are gold, which is also used in international settlement, and gold can be imported and exported freely. From these contents, we can see that the gold coin system has three characteristics: free casting, free exchange and free exporter. Because gold coins can be freely minted, the face value of gold coins can be consistent with the value of gold they contain, and the number of gold coins can meet the needs of circulation spontaneously, thus giving play to the role of money supply and demand, and inflation and currency depreciation will not occur. Because gold can be freely transferred between countries, which ensures the relative stability of the foreign exchange market and the unification of the international financial market, the gold coin standard system is a relatively sound and stable monetary system.
On the eve of the First World War, imperialist countries stepped up their plunder of gold in preparation for the World War, which seriously weakened the free casting of gold coins, the free exchange of value symbols and gold coins, and severely restricted the import and export of gold. After the outbreak of World War I, the military expenditure of imperialist countries increased sharply, and they stopped gold coin casting and exchange of value symbols one after another, and prohibited gold export, which fundamentally destroyed the foundation of the gold coin standard system and led to the complete collapse of the gold coin standard system.
2. Gold bar standard and gold exchange standard.
After the First World War, the economy of some capitalist countries was affected by inflation and rising prices, and the distribution of gold was extremely uneven, which made it difficult to restore the gold coin standard. 1922 At the World Monetary Conference held in Genoa, Italy, it was decided to adopt the principle of "saving gold" and implement the gold bar standard and the gold exchange standard.
The countries that implement the gold standard mainly include Britain, France and the United States. Under the gold bullion standard, the monetary unit still stipulates the gold content, but gold is only concentrated in the reserve issued by the central bank as currency, rather than casting circulating gold coins. Currency in circulation is completely replaced by value symbols such as banknotes, and banknotes can be exchanged with gold according to a certain amount of gold. In Britain, the minimum amount of bank notes exchanged for gold is 400 ounces of gold (about 1 700), and no exchange is allowed below the limit. France stipulates that the minimum amount of bank notes exchanged for gold is 2 1500 francs, which is equivalent to 12 kg of gold. The central bank is responsible for the import and export of gold, and private exports of gold are prohibited. The central bank maintains a certain amount of gold reserves to maintain the link between gold and currency.
The gold exchange standard system, also known as the "virtual gold standard system", is characterized by the following: gold coins cannot be circulated in China, only banknotes with legal gold content can be circulated; Paper money cannot be directly exchanged for gold, only for foreign exchange. The currency of the country that implements this system maintains a fixed parity with the currency of another country that implements the gold bar standard, and deposits foreign exchange and gold as reserves in this country, which reflects the dependence of small countries on big countries ("central countries"). Through unrestricted foreign exchange transactions, maintain the link between the currencies of various countries based on gold bars, that is, "peg" the latter's currency. The state prohibits the free export of gold, and the central bank is responsible for the import and export of gold. Before the First World War, India, the Philippines, Malaysia, some Latin American countries and regions, and Germany, Italy, Denmark, Norway and other countries in the 1920s implemented this system.
Gold bar standard and gold exchange standard are both weakened international gold standard. 1929- 1933 The outbreak of the world economic crisis forced countries to abandon the gold bar standard and the gold exchange standard. Since then, the capitalist world has split into opposing currency groups and currency areas, and the international gold standard has withdrawn from the historical stage.
3. Bretton Woods system
During the period of 1929, the world economic crisis marked by the collapse of Wall Street stock market in the United States broke out, Britain abandoned the gold standard and the pound depreciated. Many countries' foreign exchange reserves are in trouble because they are pounds rather than gold.
1944, representatives of 44 countries participating in the preparations for the United Nations held the World Monetary and Financial Conference in Bretton Woods Park, USA, and adopted the agreement of the International Monetary Fund to establish an international monetary system centered on the US dollar. The dollar is linked to gold, which is where people usually say the dollar comes from. The core content of the Bretton Woods international monetary system is:
(1) USD is the basis of international currency settlement and the main international reserve currency.
(2) The dollar is linked to gold, and other currencies are linked to the dollar. The United States undertakes the obligation to exchange gold at the official price of $35 per ounce.
(3) Implement a fixed exchange rate system. Generally, the exchange rate between currencies of various countries and the US dollar can only fluctuate within the range of parity 1%, so gold is also subject to a fixed price system. If the fluctuation is too large, central banks are obliged to intervene.
In the 1960s, because the United States was caught in the Vietnam War, the fiscal deficit increased and the dollar began to depreciate. European countries' economies are recovering, and there are more and more dollars. In the case of unstable dollar, European countries began to sell dollars and run on gold. By 197 1 year, American gold reserves had decreased by 6 1%. When the price of gold entered a period of free floating, the Bretton Woods international monetary system collapsed.
4. The non-monetization period of gold.
1976, the Jamaica Accord adopted by the International Monetary Fund and its revised scheme two years later confirmed the non-monetization of gold. The main contents are:
(1) Gold is no longer the standard of currency parity;
(2) Cancel the official price of gold, and the International Monetary Fund will no longer intervene in the market and implement a floating price;
(3) Cancel the requirement that gold must be used for settlement with IMF;
(4) Selling the 1/6 gold reserve of the International Monetary Fund, and the profits will be used to set up preferential loan funds to help low-income countries;
(5) Set up special drawing rights instead of gold for some payments between members and between members and the International Monetary Fund.
However, the non-monetization development process of gold did not make gold completely withdraw from the monetary field. The function of gold currency is still:
(1) There are still many legal denominations of gold coins in circulation; The change of gold price is still an effective tool to measure money and a reference for people to evaluate the economic operation;
(2) Gold is still an important asset reserve. Up to 200 1, the foreign exchange reserves of central banks in various countries totaled 29,600 tons of gold, accounting for about 20% of the total output of human gold for thousands of years, and 22,200 tons of gold bars were privately stored, accounting for 35.7% of the total gold in the world.
(3) In fact, gold is still recognized as the only way to replace currency settlement.
The promotion of SDR is much lower than expected. At present, gold is still the fifth largest acceptable hard currency in the world after the US dollar, euro, pound and yen.
The gold market is a global market and can be traded around the world for 24 hours. Gold is easy to realize and can be quickly converted into any currency, forming a convenient exchange relationship between gold, currency and foreign exchange, which is an outstanding performance of the monetary function of gold.
The non-monetization of gold weakens the traditional monetary function of gold, but it also provides opportunities for the development of new gold investment products, and more and more gold derivatives appear. These derivatives are financial asset investment products, which are designed for gold investment to gain income and avoid market risks. Judging from the international gold market transactions, the subject matter of gold investment is mainly derivatives, not real gold. In fact, the amount of gold investment with gold bars as the subject matter only accounts for about 3% of the total trading volume in the market, and more than 90% of the trading volume in the gold market is gold financial derivatives trading. The trading of financial derivatives of gold has magnified the trading scale of the gold market by dozens of times, making the gold market still dominated by financial attributes under the condition of non-monetization of gold, and it is a financial market rather than a general commodity market.