They point out that developing nations are opting to withdraw from the global economy and abandon free-market capitalism in the mistaken belief this will protect them from currency chaos. At the same time, the leaders of some industrialized countries are advocating global regulations, tighter government surveillance of financial activities and more emergency money for the International Monetary Fund.

Instead, gold advocates contend, we should all be thinking about global monetary reform similar to that set out at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, in 1944.

• In an effort to establish an orderly world monetary system -- one which promoted trade by reducing the risk of wild currency fluctuations -- the Bretton Woods participants adopted a gold exchange standard, which is not the same thing as a gold standard.

• Only the U.S. was required to convert its currency into gold at a fixed rate, and only foreign central banks were allowed the privilege of redemption.

• Gold advocates see these two restrictions as flaws which differentiated a gold exchange standard from a true gold standard.

• They contend that requiring all countries to maintain convertibility and allowing all individuals the right to redeem would establish a classic international gold standard.

"In an environment where gold-standard rules were tight and liquidity constrained," Greenspan pointed out, "imbalances were generally aborted before they got out of hand."

Source: Judy Shelton (Empower America), "Time for a New Bretton Woods," Wall Street Journal, October 15, 1998.