• "Well written, well researched, and the thesis put forth is well argued.... Woods has opened up an area of historical analysis that should invite further study."
    -Journal of American History

  • "During these times that challenge our freedoms there is no one more qualified to make U.S. history relevant to the fight against big government than Thomas Woods."
    -Barry Goldwater Jr.
    Former Member of Congress

  • "I strongly recommend Woods's work."
    -The Honorable Ron Paul,
    U.S. House of Representatives

  • "Written with great clarity and fluency, making the complex philosophical and theological concepts approachable."
    -Journal of American Studies

  • "A must-read."
    -Barron's

  • "An excellent reading source for anyone interested in financial markets, and much more so for anyone interested in learning about capitalism without all the misinterpretations being thrown about in the financial media."
    -Asia Times

  • "Provocative, well-written, and deserves to be read."
    -Catholic Historical Review

  • "An engaging and important contribution to scholarship on the history of American Catholicism."
    -Journal of the Historical Society

  • "Woods and [co-author Kevin] Gutzman appeal to both left and right in this constitutionalist jeremiad…. The authors' exegeses of the Constitution and court decisions, heavy on original intent arguments, are lucid and telling."
    -Publishers Weekly

  • "A marvelous read. Every chapter taught me something new and unexpected."
    -Tom Bethell, senior editor,
    The American Spectator

  • "The hottest book today is Meltdown, by my friend Tom Woods."
    -Judge Andrew Napolitano, senior judicial analyst,
    FOX News Channel

  • "Should be required reading."
    -Economic Affairs (London)

  • "Woods, one of the best classical liberal [libertarian] scholars of his generation, has once more placed us in his debt with this lucid and tightly argued book."
    -David Gordon, The Mises Review

  • "Tom Woods is one of my dearest allies in the struggle against wrong-headed and dangerous economic policy."
    -Peter Schiff

The Constitution and Money

I made this page to accompany my video on this subject, “Is Ron Paul Wrong on Money and the Constitution?”:

A very important authority on the issue of the federal government’s powers over money under the Constitution is Edwin Vieira.  His gigantic two-volume work Pieces of Eight: The Monetary Powers and Disabilities of the United States Constitution is as thorough a study of the question as is likely ever to be written.  Unfortunately, although I had a chance to read it when I was working on Who Killed the Constitution?, it is very difficult to find.

To rectify this, at least in part, I link you to Michael Rozeff’s book-length exposition of the thrust of Vieira’s argument, The U.S. Constitution and Money: Corruption and Decline. Rozeff, who is now retired, was a finance professor at the University of Buffalo.

Finally, I recommend Scott Trask’s article “Did the Framers Favor Hard Money?”

Be sure to follow me on Facebook and Twitter for more commentaries like this.

  • Thomas Conway

    my brother’s argument is that it doesn’t matter if we go to a standard or not since whatever we use as currency is going to be worth what and how much a good will cost, which cost will be based on supply and demand – so basically what he is saying is that if a dollar is worth 1/100th of an ounce of silver (as per the market value) and you can only buy a loaf of bread with it; it wouldn’t matter if the dollar was actually backed by a precious metal or not, since even if it were, you would still only be able to get a loaf of bread with it… what do i say to that argument?  it sounds reasonable… so what if anything will going to a precious metal standard actually do?

  • http://www.TomWoods.com Tom Woods

    He’s being short-sighted.  You can buy a loaf of bread with your paper money today, but chances are in ten years you’ll be able to buy only half a loaf.  Whereas a dime in the ’60s could get you a gallon of gas, just as that same silver dime can do today.  How’s the paper money doing on that front?

    The point is, the government can create lots of pieces of paper, and dilute the value of the units in your possession.  It can’t do that with gold and silver.  Your brother ignores this.