Gold is significant politically, economically, and culturally. Gold, because of how scarce it is, prevents [[inflation]] when [[currency]] is based on gold, as when currency can be exchanged for gold. Politically, for much of [[America]]n history the [[Republican Party]] has favored "hard money" (a gold-only standard for currency) while the [[Democrat Party]] has favored "soft money" which also uses [[silver]] or nothing as a basis for currency. | Gold is significant politically, economically, and culturally. Gold, because of how scarce it is, prevents [[inflation]] when [[currency]] is based on gold, as when currency can be exchanged for gold. Politically, for much of [[America]]n history the [[Republican Party]] has favored "hard money" (a gold-only standard for currency) while the [[Democrat Party]] has favored "soft money" which also uses [[silver]] or nothing as a basis for currency. |