Will the US to return to gold standard after 2012?

Gold Standard set to return in the US? This may very well be true post 2012 US Presidential elections, says Mr Steve Forbes, publisher of the famous Forbes magazine. For the uninitiated, gold standard bases the value of dollar to gold. Although gold has been used as money for thousands of years, the Gold Standard had been abandoned in the US in 1970s under the Bretton Woods system.

At present the currencies are valued in relation to each other (foreign exchange rates). All over the world, countries use the US dollar as a reserve currency to trade with each other. What this practically implies is that this gives the US Federal Reserve the liberty to print as much money as it wants. It is no brainer that more money in the system results in higher inflation, one of the major problems being faced by countries all over the world. Returning of gold standard would mean that the US would lose this liberty. It will also strengthen the US dollar and curtail the borrowing ability of the government. This is because, there is a limited supply of gold and the government cannot go on printing money recklessly. But will it actually happen?