Page:Stabilizing the dollar, Fisher, 1920.djvu/154

100 dollar of these yellowbacks, or gold dollar certificates, would, in turn, be redeemable at the Government offices in a gold bullion dollar and would, therefore, always be of equal value therewith. And finally, each dollar of gold bullion would, by periodical adjustment of its weight through an index number, be kept very nearly equivalent to the imaginary basket of goods, the goods-dollar.

In short, every actual dollar, a dollar of bullion, a dollar of yellowbacks, a dollar of bank notes or any other money, and a dollar of bank deposits would be absolutely equivalent to one another as well as approximately equivalent to the imaginary composite or goods-dollar.

We would then be substantially rid of a fluctuating price level with its long train of bad consequences. In other words, the monetary yardstick would be standardized.

10. Proviso against Speculation at Expense of the Government

To avoid speculation in gold at the expense of the Government, a small fee, corresponding to what used to be called "brassage," should be charged to depositors of gold and no single change in the dollar's weight should exceed that fee.

This is a technical detail and, with other technical points, such as the status of the reserve behind the gold bullion dollar certificates, the initial par of the index number, the selection and revision of the items making up the composite dollar, the possible retention of gold coins and coinage, the control of deposit currency, etc., need not here be entered upon. These are elaborated in Appendix I. What has been said in this chapter is