Aye, but while the Kirovites in the Union of Secular Palestinian Republics control more oil than the British Bloc, I don't see us signing up for that.
A bit of central planning is all you need to keep a paper currency going - you yanks should try it sometime!
I used to be in favor of abandoning the gold standard. My support for that has rapidly eroded in the past few years though. The various financial scandals worry me. With nothing of substance to connect a currency to, money can be made from nothing.
A shining example are the collapse of the complex derivatives markets. Large amounts of so-called wealth created from what exactly? Even those who created these derivatives are unable to explain how this wealth was created.
Another example, nearer and dearer to people here. The virtual money scandals of Second Life and World of Hackcraft. Virtual money was earned through the looting, production, and sale of imaginary items. These game currencies became the same as real life currencies to some players. People bought and sold real life items using this imaginary currency. Trading markets were even set up. And then what happened? KA-BOOM! Cold hard reality set in.