system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5:Why is the gold standard bad? Feel free to explain how the gold standard works while you're at it... for... you know... the people who might not know.
gpt
The gold standard, for those that don't know, means that each dollar you have can be exchanged for a specific amount of gold. So, instead of having to carry around gold bars, we can carry dollars bills around, and those dollar bills represent a fixed amount of gold. 

Some people like the gold standard because it means the money is actually worth something inherently (it's worth so many ounces of gold), and it means that the government can't mess with the money supply on a whim. 

The reason it's actually bad is because the government can't mess with the money supply. The supply becomes tied to some shiny metal. Now, if you have a society with 100 people, and 1,000 dollars (each person having 10 dollars), then this is fine. But in 20 years, those people will have children that will grow up and be part of the economy. But there's still 1,000 dollars, only for 150 people now. That means each dollar is worth more, which is called deflation. 

So why is deflation bad? Because then nobody will take loans. A loan works because you think you can eventually pay off the loan, but in a deflationary economy, each payment becomes worth more and more. So, while your payment might be $100 each month, the first month that $100 could buy 100 apples, but the next month it buys 200 apples, and the next it buys 300 - so you're paying more each month instead of the same amount. 

The other issue, which is less of a problem, is that inflation can't be controlled either. If the money supply is tied to gold, and then a lot of gold is found somewhere, then the money is worth less because, well, gold isn't so rare anymore. This happened to Spain in the 1500s and 1600s, when they plundered the Americas for gold, but caused runaway inflation. This is the opposite problem as above - nobody will make loans because the money will be worthless when the final payment is made. 

Turns out that the right amount of inflation or deflation for a growing economy is close to 3%. Which you can't control if your money supply is tied to some metal. Which is why every country in the world has moved off the gold standard. Some people don't like the idea that the government can change the money supply, but the benefits of being able to adjust in a recession or in a boom economy outweigh the concerns.