So fluctuation in the value of precious metals is the strongest argument in favor of the point that confidence or lack of confidence enters strongly in the economic question. As before stated, the purchasing power of gold has varied over a wide range, sometimes because of increased or decreased production, but more generally according to strength of confidence on the part of the people in governmental policy and business conditions. History easily proves that the value of money, from gold on through to paper, rises and falls like the value of any other commodity, proving that psychological confidence supercedes materialistic forms of money.

The History Of Business Depressions