When I began exploring the topic last year, I expected to find dozens of different, compact histories of the gold standard in the U.S. In fact, I didn't find but one, which left a number of what I considered to be important aspects of the topic unaddressed. I dare to hope, therefore, that no-one will say (as Moses Hades is reported to have said of some poor scholar's book) that my just-released Cato Policy Analysis "fills a much needed gap."