This story appears in the December 14, 2014 issue of Forbes. Subscribe
MOST AMERICANS--56%, according to a recent Wall Street Journal /NBC News poll--believe the political and economic systems are rigged against them. The survey found this demoralizing malaise cuts across all ages, ethnic groups, professions and political preferences. It also found that a fair number of people who have done well in recent years--those who have high incomes and are well educated--feel the system is stacked against them.
This malaise has been growing since 2002, the year the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury Department began to weaken the dollar. Currency instability undermines social trust, leaving people with the feeling that the link between effort and reward no longer holds, that they can no longer get ahead and that more and more the rewards go to those with political connections.
This disenchantment is corrosive and, if not turned around, will lead to ugly political consequences. Leaders here and around the world are utterly oblivious to all of this, especially when it comes to a critical solution: establishing a new gold standard.
(See Steve Forbes’ new book, Money: How the Destruction of the Dollar Threatens the Global Economy—And What We Can Do About It.)
