GOP Longshot: Ditch the Fed and Go Back to Gold

Although Lassonde doesn't elaborate, one other problem might be the lack of gold itself. If the $5 trillion of global central bank reserves was backed by the 1 billion ounces of gold they owned, then the price would end up at $5,000 an ounce, vs. around $650 an ounce today, explains CPM's Christian.

Christian adds that Paul's proposal also plays directly into the hands of those who believe in conspiracies -- especially if the mechanics of the system are left to private banks.

"If the government gave over the management of the currency to the banks, then the conspiracy theorists would have a field day," says Christian, as now they'd have "evidence" that the banks had the government in their pocket.

And even those who believe that the problems of a gold standard can be worked out say that the political realities of U.S. politics mean that only the brave or foolhardy would raise the issue.

Michael Darda, chief economist at MKM Partners in Greenwich, Conn., says Paul may have achieved the best he could hope for as a minor candidate: getting the topic of monetary policy into the wider debate.

"It's really too bad, but nobody is going to touch it," Darda laments. "There is a definite place for it in the monetary system."