[snip]
The New York Times, surveying the landscape of contemporary thought, told us recently that out of 40 "leading economists", all 40 said that a gold standard "would not improve the lives of average Americans."
Posted on 12/14/2015 5:38:13 AM PST by expat_panama
For 182 years "1789 to 1971" the United States embraced the principle of a "stable dollar,"...
[snip]
...people had discovered that the best way to do this, in an imperfect world, was to link the value of the currency to gold.
[snip]
Britain "which in the 17th century had been an economic backwater of no great significance "then became the financial capital of the world, the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, and ruler of the greatest global empire of the era.
Not bad.
[snip]
The New York Times, surveying the landscape of contemporary thought, told us recently that out of 40 "leading economists", all 40 said that a gold standard "would not improve the lives of average Americans."
At the end of the gold standard era, in the 1960s, the U.S. had the wealthiest middle class the world has ever seen.
[snip]
If the gold standard policy didn't "improve the lives of average Americans", how was it possible that, after 182 years, the average American was wealthier than ever?
It appears that 40 out of 40 "leading economists" never really bothered to think about that one.
And if you can "do better than a gold standard," as Michael Bordo told the Times, then why "in four decades" has nobody done so?
Can you spot the end of the gold standard "in 1971" on this chart? Maybe it is a coincidence.
We're supposed to be impressed by this degree of consensus among the "experts"...
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
Debt notes- A federal reserve note is a debt note. It is a declaration that the holder owes the “money” that is in his hand. It’s not money, it’s a debt instrument declared by law to be legal tender. Tender is an offer, it is not money. Legalizing this sort of transaction is an absolute necessity because without this sort of legal cover you could be arrested for fraud. Offering someone something that actually creates a liability instead of fulfilling a contract, ie payment for goods or services. I know your head is swimming because you don’t understand anything that I’m trying to say to you; it’s PRECISELY why we will always be using less than worthless federal reserve notes. Why less that worthless? Because over time they have lost 95% of their value. This is not luck, this is a plan.
I’ll try one more thing to help you understand... How do you create money and spend it? You can’t, you would go to jail because the theft is too obvious. So, you create money, LEND it into the economy, pay off Congress with the increasing worthless proceeds as it is slowly paid back, and keep a huge percentage for the privilege of operating the scheme. The payments are real, earned from the hard work of the American people, so the pain of the criminal enterprise is real. Nice to know that you defend this operation.
However, with respect to the economic outlook for the USA, the ones you listed>> such as the industrial revolution, the Constitution that protected private property and individual rights, the patent system that protected intellectual rights, the literate electorate... are either more evenly distributed across the world or are specifically fractured here at home.
-The industrial revolution is now more of an open intellectual/cyber/internet revolution.
-Our Constitution is in an ongoing process of bring reinterpreted and/or ignored.
-Individual & property rights, while still existing, are being strangled in a smothering morass of bureaucratic rules & regulations.
-Patents, information and many other protections & proofs are easier than ever to steal, fake or fudge in this interconnected world.
-The US 'literate electorate' isn't so literate these days. Personal responsibility and morals continue to decline.
Factor in our government listing toward fascism and things are just ducky, aren't they? :-|
Oh yeah. I tried to point out to you that the gold reserves you thought was so blessedly important are denominated by non dollars. A dollar is a weight, not a value. A dollar of gold or silver is like saying a gallon of milk or water. All gold is now DENOMINATED by federal reserve notes, so the actual value is just as fluid as the pee flowing into your diaper.
What's the interest rate? I have a $20 right here, who is mailing me the interest?
I know your head is swimming because you don't understand anything that I'm trying to say to you;
Your gibberish make me laugh.
Blessedly important? LOL! Not really. About 6% of their "nonexistent" reserves. Just like to mention it to tweak the clowns.
Denominated by non dollars? Who talks like that?
What's a non dollar? A Yen, Euro or Franc?
A dollar is a weight, not a value.
You mean a 20th of an ounce of gold? A 35th of an ounce? Less? LOL!
All gold is now DENOMINATED by federal reserve notes, so the actual value is just as fluid
The value of gold is fluid? Don't tell the gold bugs.
I’m not sure what that means. I guess average hourly wages are up for those with jobs, but when you include those without jobs and when you include that many who had full time jobs now have part time jobs, the median incomes are down.
As an individual, I can't create money, I'd go to jail. You aren't comparing an individual with a government owned central bank, are you? That would be silly.
So, you create money, LEND it into the economy,
You talking about the Fed, or an individual?
pay off Congress with the increasing worthless proceeds as it is slowly paid back, and keep a huge percentage for the privilege of operating the scheme.
If you're talking about the Fed, quantify this "huge percentage" you mention here.
The payments are real, earned from the hard work of the American people, so the pain of the criminal enterprise is real.
Criminal enterprise? Sounds dramatic!!
Please explain more about this "crime". What law was broken? Who did it?
Personally, I think part of it is the result of importing millions of low skilled illegals. Their low income numbers bring down the median. On the higher end of the income scale, earnings are up. Enough to increase the average.
A fiat currency, and the massive government debt it allows, has been THE oxygen of progressive/left government and the nanny state for the last 40 years
Conservatives will continue to lose every major social and economic battle to the Left while the U.S. Government, the Fed and Wall Street have this unlimited ability to put us into debt
Inflation is just a stealth tax. Our politicians went to a fiat currency to steal more of our money.
I have an old article from the Dallas Morning News, Jan 1, 1900 page 12. “A CELEBRATED BAIL BOND” (about Jeff Davis) “A HISTORIC DOCUMENT SEEN BY FEW”.
Way down at the bottom it states that Salmon P Chase, Chief Justice of the SCOTUS, ruled that ONLY Gold or Silver was legal tender and the paper greenbacks that Chase earlier issued could NEVER be legal tender.
The Fed “bought” 85 or so percent of those “reserves” with made-up digital money. It’s backed by nothing so the Fed is stuck w/ it, they can’t dump it which makes it worth practically nothing. Looks really good on the Fed website “balance sheet” to the Keynesians but as a tangle asset, no.
Hence, we see the articles touting how it is such a necessary thing and actually it’s a really good thing (on & on they go about it) for the Fed to permanently carry a $4T [phony] “balance” which is a polite way of saying “Hey, Fed, you created it so you’re stuck with it.”
Even the legitimate $100B or so that’s being generated by that permanent balance is being used to prop up long bonds instead of sending it to the Treasury ledger as should be done.
Thus the Great Depression was caused in large part by French and US policies of gold accumulation that withdrew large amounts of gold from the international monetary base and thereby triggered global deflation. Unfortunately, under a gold standard, what was then done inadvertently could be done intentionally by Russia or China as a matter of national strategy.
Yes, central banks can create money out of thin air. Everybody knows that.
It's backed by nothing
Well, if they create $4 trillion and use it to buy interest bearing bonds, you could make the claim that the money is backed by the bonds. That's different than say, Zimbabwe, when they create billions and just spend it.
so the Fed is stuck w/ it, they can't dump it which makes it worth practically nothing.
Ummmmm...Treasuries and guaranteed MBS, paying around $100 billion a year in interest is worth nothing? Wow, that's a unique idea. And why can't they dump it?
Even the legitimate $100B or so that's being generated by that permanent balance is being used to prop up long bonds instead of sending it to the Treasury ledger as should be done.
Wrong again, it does get paid to the Treasury.
Not much different especially if they sit on those bonds forever.
Except for the $100 billion in annual interest payments. And the eventual return of over $4 trillion in principal.
I might need a ping when repayment happens or I might be dead by then.
You'll be dead in ten years, when some of their 10 Year Treasuries mature? Sorry to hear that.
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