Posted on 01/22/2008 10:15:43 AM PST by ToryNotion
KENNER, La. — Ron Paul, a Republican presidential contender and Texas congressman, said Monday that the Federal Reserve is to blame for the country’s weakening economy.
Paul highlighted his economic remedies — abolishing the federal income tax and returning to the gold standard, among them — on a three-city tour of Louisiana.
The libertarian-minded Paul was the only candidate to visit Louisiana on the eve of the state’s Republican caucuses Tuesday. The caucuses are an intermediary step in picking a favorite candidate. A presidential primary will take place on Feb. 9 and a state convention will convene on Feb. 16.
Paul blamed the Federal Reserve for the current economic conditions; stock markets worldwide fell Monday after Wall Street declined last week. On his Web site, he said the Fed has taken the United States “into a terrible crisis.” Paul told an overflow crowd at a suburban New Orleans hotel Monday that the Fed has allowed the dollar to weaken, which in turn, he said, has hurt the middle class and led to inflation.
“I would enjoy being the next president to get rid of our central bank,” he told supporters. The crowd gave him a raucous welcome, chanting at one point, “Who dat? Who dat say they’re gonna beat Ron Paul?” — a riff on a popular football chant for the New Orleans Saints.
(Excerpt) Read more at youdecide08.foxnews.com ...
Amen.
The Fed needs to go.
Let the market determine interest rates.
We are wealthy despite the level of socialism we have in our economy.
How are the countries that use Austrian Economic theory doing again?
There are none that I am aware of, since nations still like to tax and spend.
If you miss the bounds, then it is inflation and you are causing the boom-bust cycle.
And men cannot know what the money supply should be on the market.
Stunning isn't it!
So much for conservatism and limited government!
Wasn't that Nixon, the guy who gave us wage and price controls?
Thank you for that useless rant.
Erhard, a student of Mises, removed wage and price controls during the weekend so the occupation forces couldn't stop them.
That was the catalyst for the W. German economic miracle.
“If you miss...”
Yes, that is true, but on the other hand, the Fed does a better job of keeping the growth in the money supply within the appropriate range than simply leaving it to it devices.
The best 'device' is the market, which means, a gold based money supply not open to the manipulations of Government.
What do you mean “gold based?” You mean that the Fed can issue dollars only if it has an equal dollar amount of gold in Fort Knox? If so, we would be in perputual recession since that doesn’t grow very fast.
No, the price of the dollar in circulation would increase in value, like any other good in demand.
The reason the price of gold as risen in relation to the dollar is because that the price of the dollar has decreased so there are too many dollars in circulation.
The laws of supply and demand operate on money like any other good.
What Has Government Done to Our Money?/Case for a 100 Percent Gold Dollar
AUTHOR: Rothbard, Murray N.
http://www.mises.org/store/-P224C1.aspx
Governments destroy the value of their currency. They do so in order to finance expansion abroad and bread and circuses at home. They just do. Thats not a trend. Its historical fact.
Yea, a lower value currency empowers expansion abroad and “bread and circuses” at home.. I can see the circus part as it makes the media.. but the rest.. well, let’s just say you give me 25% of your summer vacation money (I’ll devalue your savings) and you can go take your trip and see if that destruction of value helps you finance anything.
I think your econ 101 book (even one based on Keynesian ideas) would tell you that when you lower the price of something you see an increased demand of that thing. The fed held the price of borrowing dollars too low for too long and suckered a lot of consumers into borrowing. The Fed will always get rates wrong by definition because they don’t have perfect information on the markets natural supply and demand of dollars at any point in time. Therefore they will always cause “malinvestment” and exacerbate boom/bust cycles. (See Hayek on The Problem of Socialist Calculation.)
“No, the price of the dollar in circulation would increase in value, like any other good in demand.”
Then it’s not based on the price of gold. Actually, this is how it already works. The price of the dollar does adjust. It’s merely that the Fed influences the money supply, and therefore has some ability to influence whether the price of the dollar adjusts upward or downward.
Now, the dollar is not tied to gold, but gold is rising in price to the decreasing value of the dollar since people still look to gold as money.
A gold backed currancy would prevent the Fed from destroying the dollar by inflation.
There is always enough money in circulation since money just rises in value if there is less of it and lowers in value if there is more of it as it relates to the goods it can buy.
In other words, a dollar that is worth a dollar (in gold) will go alot further then a paper dollar worth only 10cents.
Yes, as well as closing the Federal Reserve gold window.
A real genius!
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