To bring up the word ‘gold’ in the context of proposing future global monetary arrangements has long meant to put at risk one’s intellectual credibility. But widespread dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs, with the dollar and euro engaged in a race to the bottom while emerging-market countries are left to wrestle with exchange rate distortions and rising trade pressures, is prompting the search for new solutions.

In the US, meanwhile, the populist movement to restore values