People should look at the simple Radiant Barrier, which is aluminum foil with a paper or plastic backing and a reinforcing scrim. It is stapled to the rafters inside the attic and reflects 97% of all radiant heat energy back out. Its quite inexpensive and works both in winter and summer, radiating heat back in as well, though to a lesser degree. I'm surprised its not standard for all new houses, but builders will only put what is required by code. My new house didn't even have proper attic ventilation so it was like an indian sweat hut up there in the summer.

Rich people still invest in gold. The reason they don't want money on the gold standard is that it would take gold out of their hands. Inside huge gold storage facilities there are piles of gold marked with labels of country ownership. WHen one country buys gold from another, a robotic machine comes and grabs a few bars and takes them from one pile to another. Now if moving a few blocks of gold 30 feet to a new pile is that important, then gold is a very valuable thing.