Part 1
On today's show, we visit the charming curmudgeon and respected finance writer James Grant. He says we should go back on the gold standard.
His basic argument: Under the gold standard, money holds its value. Central banks can't create (or destroy) money at a whim.
Part 2
Franklin Delano Roosevelt ignores the advice of America's big-name economists — and listens instead to a guy who helped take care of the trees on his estate.
Montagu Norman, head of the Bank of England, gets a coded message at a critical moment — and completely misunderstands what it means.
On today's Planet Money: The gold standard and the Great Depression.
