“An economy that’s up and running”
can be in a different geographical region,
but it also can be in a different temporal setting as well.
That’s what gold is for - “transporting” wealth to the working economy, whether it is located somewhere else, or somewhen else.
The author is forgetting that a bag of gold will be worth more than a bag of Benjamins.
These are interesting points of knowledge:
http://www.kamron.com/liberty/colonial_script.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0Nrm0ZQjqQ