gold standard (金本位)

A system for fixing exchange rates by the central bank or government of each country making its currency freely convertible into gold at a fixed price. Under this system the par value of exchange rates is set by the amount of each currency that can be obtained for a given quantity of gold. Exchange rates thus cannot shift further from parity than the limits set by the transactions costs of shipping gold between different countries, which is usually a very small percentage of its value. The same applies if gold actually circulates within each country, provided it can be imported and exported freely.

出处: 牛津经济学词典, 第200页, 上海外语教育出版社, 2000年