We have had both kinds of economies in American History. We had Economy 1 after the abolition of the Second National Bank to the formation of the Federal Reserve Bank in 1913. We have had Economy 2 since 1968. To understand the differences between Economy 1 and Economy 2, you have to know about the three forms of money. The three forms of money are called Commodity Money, Fiduciary Money and Fiat Money.
Commodity money is gold and silver coin.
Fiduciary money is paper money that is fully redeemable in gold and silver coin. Fiat Money is unredeemable paper money. Federal Reserve Notes are neither federal, or reserve or even a note. Economy 1 is a system based on Commodity Money. Economy 2 is based on Fiat Money.