Food for thought....

In 1972, the first year after Nixon took us off the gold standard, adjusted for inflation, gold's yearly average price was $244 per troy ounce. Subsequently through the next decade, America went through hyper-inflation, high oil prices, rampant unemployment, two recessions, and Middle Eastern conflict. Sound familiar??? Well, at the peak of the fear in 1980, gold's yearly average price had risen to an inflation adjusted $1637 per troy ounce. Fast forward to 2001, the beginning of our decade of hyper-inflation, high oil prices, rampant blah, blah, blah, gold's yearly average price was $271 per troy ounce. Today, gold prices have ramped all the way back to 1980 levels closing Friday's trading session at $1644 per troy ounce. We've been here before people. In 1972, it took roughly the same amount of gold to buy goods and services as it did in 2001. Crazy, huh?  I'm not implying gold has peaked, or this is the end of America's version of the "lost" decade. In fact, was it not for the economic and foreign policies of freshly elected Ronald Reagan, our situation would have gotten even worse. This highlights the urgent need for a leader that can do what's necessary to return America to prosperity. This is not a "let's blow Reagan" speech, or a call to imitate everything he did. Times have changed and different strategies are needed. That's why the Free Market Capitalist supports Ron Paul for President in 2012.