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Fred Bates III Instructor: Malcolm Campbell English 1103 September 17, 2012 Topic Proposal: Has America Lost Its Golden Edge Financially? Introduction/Overview I am going to be exploring the notion that the United States of America is truly in a downward cycle financially and if this has anything to do with the amount of gold this country has. Peace of mind is a very valuable quality that many Americans want but few have because they are unaware of what is happening to their country. Basically we all want answers but are we ever going to get them? Currently as of mid to late 2012 the national debt has reached an all time high of over 16 trillion dollars. This is a very startling fact that must be addressed in the near future or everything that the founders of this country worked for will come to nothing. The future of this generation is seriously in jeopardy of being dark and gloomy. Whos to blame exactly? There seems to be more fingers pointing than problem solving in the government these days but if there is going to be any change we must put more focus on rebuilding this country. In order to rebuild America there must be some exploration of its history. There is a debate that there are many different places in this nations history that began this downward spiral into the abyss we call debt. How did such a powerful country such as America resort to becoming a nation that has about 42% of its' debt owned by foreign countries? Some may argue that the Great Depression is to blame while others blame the governments foreign policy that sometimes sticks its nose into

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places where it should not. There are obviously many different opinions on the subject but I will focus on the true backbone of the American monetary system. Thats right, this research will consist of plenty of gold digging, so you readers should be ready to become rich with knowledge. Research for this topic was quite an interesting task because I was able to look at a lot of old government documents written by a bunch of dead guys. The librarys database is full of great documents and info that I never thought could be viewed by the general public. This will most likely be my best resource as well as CNBC.com, Washingtonpost.com, and Federalreserve.gov. All of these websites have given me a great background on the gold standard in America. I have also bounced some ideas off of my family members and sharing some of the information with them because it helps me to grasp the knowledge Ive recently gained. This topic is very complex because there are many different opinions on gold and whether the government stills owns as much as it did during the beginning of the Great Depression. There is a big debate that the U.S. government did not do the right thing by making the dollar the main currency of this nation. Critics believe that the monetary police is not stable because too much money has been printed. Of course Republicans and Democrats are the two main parties debating this issue but many journalists have brought their attention to this topic as fears arise about the national debt. I watch CNBC as much as I can to listen to different CEOs and politicians debate various topics involving the economy. Ive been watching since I was twelve years old and Ive learned a lot. One of the major speakers of the state of the U.S. economy is Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. One of the main reasons the U.S. moved away from gold was as Bernanke put it, the large decline of money supply in the 1930s. This of course was during the first stages of the Great Depression, which contrary to popular belief was not only felt in America but by all

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nations that used gold. America just happened to be one of the hardest hit by this economic disaster because in 1930 we owned almost 50% of the worlds gold supply. America was indeed a world superpower.

Initial Inquiry Question When I think of the state of the economy back then and now a cornucopia of questions come to mind. The good thing is that we can narrow down these questions by focusing on the impact of gold on the U.S. economy. Who controls the price of gold and other precious metals? Who determines the value of a dollar? Are the methods used to control these values fair to everyone? Does America still have the biggest piece of the golden pie and if so then why are we in so much debt? My Interest in this Topic Ever since I could understand what was happening in the economy I have gained immediate interest in exploring it. Like I previously stated I was twelve when I first began watching CNBC and since then I have been curious to know where the money is. There is some correlation to my major that led me to pick this topic but it is my passion and I thoroughly enjoy learning more about it. I have always been a very curious person but I believe my curiosity is increased exponentially when it comes to money and economics. 1. What do you already know?

I am already aware of the fact that the price of gold is fixed and I am also aware that the U.S. dollar value is fixed. 2. What do you hope to learn?

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I hope to learn who is behind the price fixing and also how much gold America still owns.

Next Steps In continuing with my research I will go back to many of the same websites I have stated before such as CNBC.com, Washingtonpost.com, and Federalreserve.gov. I will also most definitely look up more information on the librarys database because it gives me access to many of Americas past government documents. I believe the knowledge gained from this research will help give me better grasp on the economic state of this country.