For decades gold was $20 an oz, then it was $35 an oz for a few more decades. Ending with Nixon. So gold beat paper from any period before 1971, big time. Your $35 cash is still $35, your 1oz of gold is now $600.
By cherrypicking dates you could still construct a scenario where dollars have held value more than gold, but that game will soon come to an end, in my opinion.
Currencies are what they are, pieces of papers representing debt used to buy products which have an inherently depreciating value as you print more. It is better than having to back them with gold, since there is not enough gold to back all the currencies.
?? Any amount of gold could back a currency.
Our economy would be prisioners to Russia and South Africa for their gold everytime we wanted to increase our money supply.
Why do you need to increase the money supply. A finite amount of money would cause prices to fall over time, rewarding savers and builders, as opposed to the current system that rewards bankers. You've become habituated to the illness (inflation) to the point that you can't imagine living without it.
Murry Rothbards "The Case Against the Fed" lays out this scenario very well.
So my $200K house would be worth $190K 5 years later and in your book that is good? Falling prices is not good. You need to keep increasing the money supply or it is impossible for the economy to grow.