I am reading "Lords of Finance" and it alludes to how the gold trade helped trigger the Great Depression.

https://www.amazon.com/Lords-Finance-Bankers-Broke-World/dp/... (hat tip to HN as this was where this book was recommended to me)

Granted we don't have an official gold standard, but could todays gold exchange cause similar problems?

https://www.history.com/news/how-did-the-gold-standard-contr...