... it's from, of all places, the "Christian Science Monitor"!

Big thanks to Wayne, for spotting this!

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1115/p09s01-coop.html

One note, it would be better, and more natural, to just free up private banks to have competing specie-based currencies, for which they would have to be open to consumer scrutiny. A gold standard for a government-issued currency is a nice idea, but usually it gets corrupted by politicians, who start claiming the government is on a gold standard, but who begin deviating from the direct tie to gold. This is what happened between the Bretton Woods I summit, and Bretton Woods II, when the US gubment 'officially' went off the gold standard -- it had been off it for decades, but never officially acknowledged it.

PS Have you gotten "BY THE SWORD" yet?