Posted on 08/20/2007 11:38:43 AM PDT by Publius
We can let Williams speak for himself (from here):
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"So what about the president's nomination of Ben S. Bernanke as Alan Greenspan's replacement? I know little or nothing about the man. What I do know is that it's not wise for one person, or group of persons, to have so much power over our economy. Here's my recommendation for reducing that power: Repeal legal tender laws and eliminate all taxes on gold, silver and platinum transactions. That way, Americans could write contracts in precious metals and thereby reduce the ability of government to steal from us." |
Anybody here have any idea just which "contracts in precious metals" are the ones he wants to be legalized that are at this time prohibited?
Well, you’ve probably heard this before, but just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean the bastards are really out to gitcha!!! You stay safe!!! And don’t git too cynical!!!
You’re dead right. Adding liquidity to a market is hardly a bail out. We’ve had plenty of those and we’re not close yet (but listen to the dims if you wanna hear what one would be like).
Repeal legal tender laws...
"Legal tender" is forced tender. This is what forces citizens to use Federal Reserve Notes and treat them as money. FRN's are not backed by gold and silver specie as the Constitution demands. Instead they are debt instruments printed at will by the Federal Reserve and the government.
Williams wants to repeal the law and permit people to refuse to accept FRN's in payment, demanding payment in precious metals instead.
...eliminate all taxes on gold, silver and platinum transactions.
Capital gains on precious metals are taxed by the IRS as "collectibles" at a 35% rate. Because precious metals are the only true constitutional money, Williams believes that this tax should be eliminated.
...Americans could write contracts in precious metals and thereby reduce the ability of government to steal from us.
Williams is proposing a parallel system of money backed by precious metals. Because this money could be not created from nothing by the Fed and the government, its value would never be destroyed by inflation or profligate printing of FRN's. This would make the parallel and competitive precious metals money system more desirable from the people's point of view than the government- and Fed-backed FRN system. People would prefer to accept payment in "good" gold money rather than "bad" paper money. As Williams sees it, this would mark the end of the FRN system (unbacked by assets) that was bequeathed to us by FDR.
Historically, Williams' position is echoed by Andrew Jackson and was implemented by him in 1832 when Jackson got rid of the Bank of the United States.
Yes.
My understanding (which is just my understanding) is that money attains value by the amount of goods and services behind the particular currency. For example, if there existed no goods and services to buy, than 1 dollar or an infinite amount of dollars are equally useless (unless used as toliet or wallpaper :)). So, the real economic value is in the ‘stuff’ produced by the economy, independent of currency. This includes, well everything, companies, materials, infastructure, services (health care) even, some economists say, abstract values such as knowledge, education, and culture...
Obviously, where you start doesn’t matter, 1000 dollars or 1 dollar could buy something and it wouldn’t matter, as long as we all started the same. The problem arises when values change from existing starting points, which is the definition of inflation. This extra money, when added to the existing pool of money has to be added somehow and government, including the Fed, do a pretty horrible job of it, IMO, enriching certain banks and impoverishing the rest of us, especially the poorest of the poor. A good portion of inflation is caused by reckless government spending. For a worst case example:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/28/AR2007072801288.html?hpid=sec-world
“Where money for projects has not been found, we will print it,” Mugabe was quoted as saying.
However, I don’t think debt in and of itself is too dangerous of a thing, treasury bonds remain stable because government has the power (unfortunately) to confiscate vast quantities of money and, ultimately, the goods and services backing up the money in the form of near unlimited powers of taxation.
So, I dunno, this is my preliminary opinion at this time, but I’m not well versed in all this to be honest. :) There does not seem to be many who are....
that is a good article!
see post 46
Vulture? More like a Hero!
>>Vulture? More like a Hero!<<
Someone who cheers financial collapse and tries to encourage it by wanting the Fed to be prevented from stopping it is a hero? Is that a joke?
He’s not speaking of futures contracts (which I think you may be thinking). He’s talking about private business contracts that stipulate payment only be made in one precious metal or another. The ‘legal tender’ doctrine prohibits these contracts, because citizens are forced by this doctrine to accept Federal Reserve Notes ‘’for all transactions public and private’’ ... just as it says on every currency note issued (obverse side, top-centre left).
Enriching which banks? Enriching them how?
From the article in post 12:
“The main beneficiaries are those who receive access to artificially inflated money and/or credit before the inflationary effects of the policy impact the entire economy.”
I can’t say why or how it happens; it is admittedly more of an ideological belief than anything... people who study this stuff and whom I tend to agree with have said it and past pattern suggests it. I’d be interested if you or anyone has any information on exactly how this occurs.
I didn't realize you were getting your info from Ron Paul. That explains why it didn't make any sense. LOL!
I’d be interested if you or anyone has any information on exactly how this occurs.
When the Fed increases the money supply, they do it by buying Treasury securities from a primary dealer. The Fed doesn't hand them money and say, "Quick, use this money to make a profit before the inflationary effects of the policy impact the entire economy.”
If you (or Ron Paul) can explain how the Fed buying a T-Bill at the market price can unfairly benefit the seller, I'd like to hear it.
lol, the ol’ dismissed by the source ploy eh? I’ve had these (preliminary opinions) long before I’d ever heard of Ron Paul. But RP is in good company, Milton Friedman fought to abolish the Fed I believe.
well, the question I have is how does one become a primary dealer? Who are they? What is in it for them to deal with the Fed?
When your source is a proven idiot.....
well, the question I have is how does one become a primary dealer?
Primary dealers are banks and securities brokerages that trade in U.S. Government securities with the Federal Reserve System.
As of February 2007, there were 21 primary dealers.
Primary dealers' daily average trading volume in U.S. Government securities was approximately $550 billion during 2005.
What is in it for them to deal with the Fed?
Part of it is prestige. "Trade with us, we're a Primary Dealer".
How about this: Williams is wrong; we live in an age where anyone can ignore sovereign legal tender restrictions and can trade in gold, pesos, or coconuts if they want. The reason we don't is because we don't want to --fed notes are the most stable and reliable medium of exchange.
Way back in the 20th century, if someone was selling stuff in a store with a sign that said "only gold coins accepted here", he'd get a visit from the feds and the sign would get taken down. These days, I can run a store on line and sell whatever I want for whatever I want. If I wanted, I could even open up a brick and mortar store in Omaha, and put bar codes on all the items for sale and then program the register to give the latest price equal to the price of an equivalent gold coin.
We live in a different world now, my take is that the only reason gold bugs aren't using their stupid gold standard now is because they don't want to anymore than we do --they just love to complain and blame their problems on us.
I think a $500 billion A DAY(!) market is worth more than just ‘prestige’...
http://www.newsmax.com/money/archives/articles/2006/11/7/093337.cfm
There is a lot not said in the above article...
They're not trading that much with the Fed. Because they're such big traders, being a Primary Dealer is a nice addition. They need to hold large inventories of bonds, buying directly from the Fed makes that a lot easier.
There is a lot not said in the above article...
Like what?
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