The gold standard failed because it imposed natural constraints on countries that left them unable to defend themselves and their citizens. It is absurd to form an entity for public purpose and then not be able to utilize that entity when you most need it. Some people like to think of govt’s as these foreign entities that are created for their own benefit (primarily because they’ve read too much economics from people who lived in the days of communism and socialism), but that is not the case. We live in a REPRESENTATIVE REPUBLIC. If you are that pissed then stand up and do something. This is YOUR govt. It is to be used for YOUR benefit.
When you enter yourself into an arrangement such as the one that Greece is involved in then what is the purpose of your govt? You are no longer fulfilling public purpose. You are just existing in someone else’s system. That is what the gold standard did. And it is what the Euro is doing today. The trade imbalances are a direct result of the single currency system. The gold standard failed. It isn’t coming back. And we’re all better off for it.