The gold standard, a monetary system where the medium of exchange are paper notes that are convertible into pre-set, fixed quantities of gold, replaced the use of gold coins as currency in the 17th-19th centuries in Europe. These gold standard notes were made legal tender, and redemption into gold coins was discouraged. By the beginning of the 20th century almost all countries had adopted the gold standard, backing their legal tender notes with fixed amounts of gold.

After World War II, at the Bretton Woods Conference, most countries adopted fiat currencies that were fixed to the US dollar. The US dollar was in turn fixed to gold. In 1971 the US government suspended the convertibility of the US dollar to gold. After this many countries de-pegged their currencies from the US dollar, and most of the world's currencies became unbacked by anything except the governments' fiat of legal tender.

Modern day monetary systems are based on fiat money and are no longer tied to the value of gold. The control of the amount of money in the economy is known as monetary policy. Monetary policy is the process by which a government, central bank manages the money supply to achieve specific goals. A failed monetary policy can have significant detrimental effects on an economy and the society that depends on it. These include hyperinflation, stagflation, recession, high unemployment, shortages of imported goods, inability to export goods, and even total monetary collapse and the adoption of a much less efficient barter economy. This happened in Russia, for instance, after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Today the United States achieves their goal by printing money; the reason for its acceptance is directly related to the government's taxing authority. Without it, the government would not be able to borrow to the extent that they have. Creditors, domestic and foreign alike, are now beginning to question the government's ability to tax the people more than they can afford. And because the government has run out of options, they will most likely resort to the printing press.  This presents a dilemma; can they cut expenses enough to pay their bills or will they resort to more tax based initiatives? Like the Value Added Tax (VAT). We believe that the present government will continue their wayward ways on into the future. This is an Obamination, and an insult to the hard working Tax Payer. This is where the TEA PARTY MOVEMENT comes in. We are not at all satisfied with the "TAX AND SPEND POLICIES OF BIG GOVERNMENT". We have had enough. Taxed Enough Already