Our Money Madness (an article by the Mises Institute)

I've had an interest in economics for quite a while particularly the writings of Ludwig von Mises and more generally of the Austrian School. This school asserts (and I for one am quite convinced) that the present crisis was predicted by their theories of inflation, fiat currencies and the boom-bust business cycle. I'm no expert so I'd like to hand over to an article on the 'Mises Institude' website:

Our Money Madness
We flatter ourselves, in this technological age driven by financial innovation and mind-boggling efficiencies, that we know more than any previous generation. But there is lost knowledge, among which is the knowledge of what sound money feels and looks like, what it does, who makes it and why, and how it holds its value.
So let us revisit Robert Louis Stevenson's classic story, Treasure Island, and the climactic scene where the pirates and their companions have finally found their treasure and prepare to haul it away. The narrator reports as follows ...