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The purchasing power of our dollar has therefore not been consistently stabilized. Neither, on the other hand, have we had a genuine gold standard – or even any standard. We have vacillated between the two rival systems of monetary stability: The internal and external. The very rigidity of our gold price has, however, exposed the dollar to the disturbing influences of “[[hot money]]” from abroad and has probably been an obstacle to recovery in this country.
So long as we have no law determining what our monetary policy shall be there will always be uncertainty as to the external and internal values of the dollar. Consequently, there is an ever-present danger of abuse of discretionary powers, not only the [[President of the United States|President]]’s powers but those of others as well. The [[Secretary of Treasury]], for instance, has discretionary power to issue [[silver certificates]] and, for that purpose, to buy [[silver]]. He is also free to use, as he pleases, the two billion dollars in stabilization account and thus influence foreign exchange. The [[Federal Reserve System#Board of Governors|Board of Governors]] of the [[Federal Reserve System]] may change the [[reserve requirements]] of banks, may buy or sell [[Government bonds]] in the [[Open market operations|open market]], may change [[discount
Our monetary system is thus permeated with discretionary powers. But there is no unity about it, no control, and, worst of all, no proscribed policy. In a word, there is no mandate based on a definite principle.
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