Over the past few days, the financial press has reported on the return of the gold standard to mainstream US political debate (albeit hedged with a fair degree of [justified] scepticism).
For a recent critique of the gold standard, by the academic who literally wrote the book on the Gold Standard and the Great Depression, this 2011 essay by Barry Eichengreen is worth a look, not least for a reminder that history shows the Gold Standard was no remedy for financial instability or sovereign default.