Posted on 07/21/2010 10:02:34 PM PDT by blam
New Gold-Backed Currency Could be in Use Next Month
By Rocky Vega
07/21/10 Alexandria, Virgina — Malaysia, well, at least its northern state of Kelantan, is putting the Islamic gold dinar and silver dirham into circulation as legal tender and it could be implemented as early as mid-August. It won’t be the first nation using gold coins — Indonesia has already minted about 25,000 pieces for use in Australia, Malaysia, and Singapore — but, they are going to be useable in a rather comprehensive fashion.
According to The Guardian:
“If information on its website is to be believed, the council has the blessing of the state’s Islamist government, Parti Islam SeMalaysia (Pas), to kickstart the dinar in three moves. First, the state will pay a quarter of its public servants’ salaries using the dinar. Second, all state companies will accept dinar payments. Lastly, some 600 commercial enterprises will also embrace this currency.
“Inspired by selective religious sources and backed by historical precedents within the annals of Islamic history, the gold dinar system is touted by certain fiercely proud Muslims as the Islamic answer to thwart capitalism’s woes.
“The idea was first mooted by Malaysia’s former prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, in the aftermath of the 1997 Asian financial crisis. He argued that the coins would never hang their possessor out to dry in the same way that paper money had. As precious metals with intrinsic value, gold and silver are more resistant to market fluctuations and devaluation compared to the US dollar – an argument he took to the Organisation of the Islamic Conference as a tool to battle western hegemony.”
In and of itself, choosing a gold-backed currency as a tool “to thwart capitalism’s woes” seems a bit wrongheaded. Its use could raise the ire of capitalist public accustomed to paper money, but there are many true-blue capitalists that would sing the praises of a gold-backed US dollar, for instance, given the opportunity. The concept of a gold-backed currency other than the dollar, in this case the dinar, could conceptually offer a threat to the dollar’s reserve currency resilience, but not without a global endorsement of its usefulness in international trade. Anything’s possible, but it seems unlikely even China, with its particular reserves quandary, is going to rush to support a Malaysian reserve currency anytime soon.
You can read more details about the gold dinar and silver dirham in The Guardian’s coverage of whether or not Malaysia’s Islamic currency will be able to thwart capitalism.
Ping.
These guys think they are hurting capitalism? I only wish our Marxists here came to the same conclusion!
BTTT
You can thank Wilson and the dirtbag FDR.
How to defeat Islam?
If I recall correctly, it is against the Koran to lend money on interest.
Now, if we were to apply for non-or reduced interest loans, we would, of course, be denied since we are “unbelievers.” Or, they would grant loans, but charge interest, for the same reason.
This would be discriminatory, and so,subject to legal redress.
Or so it would seem.
Please correct me if I’m wrong.
it wont thwart capitalism but help it, but it may thwart US fiat money system which marxism rely on
Gerald Ford actually signed the bill letting citizens own gold coins again. Given that and his numerous vetos maybe he deserves a little more recognition. (But just a little).
the koran forbids interest charges and therefore outlaws banks. But all muslim nations have banks that charge interest and pay interest. I don’t know how they split the hairs that allow them to do so, but there are certainly such hairs.
not golg-backed money - but real gold coins.
could be a hit...
I wonder how they will stabilize the value of the coins.
On 25 June 2010 an ounce gold was at $1259.59, on 19 July it was $1184.33.
Goldbug ping
Interesting development. I wonder if they’ll put some of those gold-bar vending machines here and there to facilitate the education of the populace.
Mail me to get on or off the Free Republic Goldbug Ping List.
May I offer you a red pill as the first step in your journey — under a gold-based currency system, it’s far more likely and convenient that things start to be priced in grams or ounces of gold rather than in dollars or euros or whatever.
Agreed. Ford, for all of his humanness, was and is a gentleman. We could use people of character like him in office these days. Seems, the more human a politician is, the harder the media works to destroy him/her. Palin is another example. Normal, decent people need not apply...
The housing crisis was caused by what, millions of people buying houses they could not afford? And the play money for those houses came from where? Certainly not from actual assets. If only our nation had stayed on a metals-backed currency, we would not be in this crisis. So to add to the insult of that error, Islam now comes along and picks up with what is a truly good idea, currency actually backed by something. Sigh.
related article (not a duplicate) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2556935/posts
I wonder how they will stabilize the value of the coins.
On 25 June 2010 an ounce gold was at $1259.59, on 19 July it was $1184.33.
Some days you get more change back when you buy gas & grub, some days you get less I suppose.
The gold has not changed, the ‘value’ placed on the paper however....
That could be one way around the problem, but not very convenient. We’d also have to start using very small silver and bronze coins too - like the ancients.
Yes, the dollar fluctuates against gold, the same way every other currency in the world fluctuates.
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