Remember the’90s? The Seattle scene crackled through the air waves while home computers took up an entire desk. PULP FICTION, Bill Clinton, and O.J. Simpson captured our imaginations and made us think twice about basements, cigar smoking, and leather gloves. As the Internet boom swelled and everything we had been taught in 8th grade computer science class went right out the window, one thing became abundantly clear: making money was easy in Dot Com World. Being the next Bill Gates or Mark Cuban was just a matter of time.

It is the duty of every concerned citizen to be informed. This includes basic economics. As the recession creeps into its second year and the number of unemployed Americans is in double digits, learning some economic essentials is a must. A good place to begin, is with the idea of the Gold Standard, which President Nixon discarded on August 15, 1971.