US states push for gold and silver to be used as currency
Several states in the US are considering legislation to permit the use of bullion as legal tender amid fears the dollar will become worthless under the Federal Reserve’s current policies.
US citizens in more than a dozen states are attempting to drive legislation to see gold and silver coins recognised as legal tender.
The move comes as many people in the country have admitted to having little trust in the Federal Reserve and are concerned the US dollar will become worthless, Bloomberg reports.
In 2011, Utah became the first state to authorise bullion as currency and Arizona, Kansas and South Carolina are among states currently producing similar bills.
However, these moves are largely symbolic and despite the legislation in Utah, it is not possible to pay for groceries with gold. Instead, politics professor Loren Gatch explained it is more a show of the fears held by US citizens that the central bank's chairman Ben Bernanke's policies will lead to the collapse of the greenback.
"The legislation is about signaling discontent with monetary policy and about what Ben Bernanke is doing," Prof Gatch stated.
Since the recession in December 2007, Mr Bernanke has spearheaded policies that have seen interest rates fall close to zero and last month (March) announced the Federal Reserve will continue its long-term quantitative easing programme.
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