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Showing posts with label monetary system. Show all posts
Showing posts with label monetary system. Show all posts

Thursday, May 23, 2013

The Best Kept Secrets of The Dollar

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Thursday, January 10, 2013

Trillion Dollar Coin Reveals the Monetary System in Death Throes



Eric Blair

I’m thrilled that the trillion dollar coin idea is being taken seriously by the establishment. Not because I think it is a viable solution to the national debt, necessarily, but because it shows just how close our monetary system is to reform.

First, for those not familiar with the trillion dollar coin; the idea is that the U.S. Treasury can coin any monetary value they want for whatever purpose they choose.

In this case the idea has been floated to Obama to avert the mandatory raising of the debt ceiling by coining a trillion dollar coin. In other words, Obama can use the coin to pay off a trillion in debt to allow an increase in federal spending without Congress’ approval.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

G. Edward Griffin: Protectors of the Public

This is the third installment in a series of chapter summaries from G. Edward Griffin's must-read book The Creature From Jekyll Island.  This book may be the most important "red pill" available and we highly recommend that you buy and read the full book at RealityZone.

G. Edward Griffin

Buy Here

Chapter 3 Summary: Protectors of the Public

The game called bailout is not a whimsical figment of the imagination, it is real. Here are some of the big games of the past and their final scores. 

In 1970, Penn Central railroad became bankrupt. The banks which lent the money had taken over its board of directors and had driven it further into the hole, all extending bigger and bigger loans to cover the losses. Directors concealed reality from stockholders and made additional loans so the company could pay dividends to keep up the false front. During this time, the directors and their banks unloaded their stock at unrealistically high prices.  When the truth became public, the stockholders were left holding the empty bag. The bailout, which was engineered by the Federal Reserve, involved government subsidies to other banks to grant additional loans. Then Congress was told that the collapse of Penn Central would be devastating to public interest. Congress responded by granting $125 million in loan guarantees so that banks would not be at risk.  The railroad eventually failed anyway, but the bank loans were covered. Penn Central was nationalized into AMTRAK and continues to operate at a loss.

In 1970, as Lockheed faced bankruptcy, Congress heard essentially the same story. Thousands would be unemployed, subcontractors would go out of business, and the public would suffer greatly. So Congress agreed to guarantee $250 million in new loans, which put Lockheed 60% deeper into debt than before.  Now that government was guaranteeing the loans, it had to make sure Lockheed became profitable.  This was accomplished by granting lucrative defense contracts at non-competitive bids.  The banks were paid back.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

How Long Will the Dollar Remain the World's Reserve Currency?

Dees Illustration
Ron Paul

We frequently hear the financial press refer to the U.S. dollar as the “world’s reserve currency,” implying that our dollar will always retain its value in an ever shifting world economy. But this is a dangerous and mistaken assumption.

Since August 15, 1971, when President Nixon closed the gold window and refused to pay out any of our remaining 280 million ounces of gold, the U.S. dollar has operated as a pure fiat currency. This means the dollar became an article of faith in the continued stability and might of the U.S. government.

In essence, we declared our insolvency in 1971. Everyone recognized some other monetary system had to be devised in order to bring stability to the markets.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

The problem with fiat money explained in 4 minutes

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Saturday, June 25, 2011

G. Edward Griffin: The Name of the Game is Bailout

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This is the second installment in a series of chapter summaries from G. Edward Griffin's must-read book The Creature From Jekyll Island.  This book may be the most important "red pill" available and we highly recommend that you buy and read the full book at RealityZone.

G. Edward Griffin

Buy Here
Activist Post

Chapter 2 Summary: The Name of the Game is Bailout

Although national monetary events may appear mysterious and chaotic, they are governed by well-established rules which bankers and politicians rigidly follow.  The central fact to understanding these events is that all the money in the banking system has been created out of nothing through the process of making loans.  A defaulted loan, therefore, costs the bank little of tangible value, but it shows up on the ledger as a reduction in assets without a corresponding reduction in liabilities.  If the bad loans exceed the size of the assets, the bank becomes technically insolvent and must close its doors.  The first rule of survival, therefore, is to avoid writing off large, bad loans and, if possible, to at least continue receiving interest payments on them.  To accomplish that, the endangered loans are rolled over and increased in size.  This provides the borrower with money to continue paying interest plus fresh funds for new spending.  The basic problem is not solved, but is postponed for a while and made worse.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Senators seek crackdown on "Bitcoin" currency

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Source: BitcoinMe.com
Brett Wolf
Reuters

Two senators are pressing federal authorities to crack down on an online black market and "untraceable" digital currency known as Bitcoins after reports that they are used to buy illegal drugs anonymously.

Democratic Senators Charles Schumer of New York and Joe Manchin of West Virginia wrote to Attorney General Eric Holder and Drug Enforcement Administration head Michele Leonhart in a letter that expressed concerns about the underground website "Silk Road" and the use of Bitcoins to make purchases there.

The letter prompted a discussion among Bitcoin enthusiasts about whether the government was capable of closing related bank accounts and thereby stifling the currency.

The senators released a copy of their letter on Monday. It cites recent media reports that some tech-savvy individuals were using an "anonymizing network" known as Tor to gain clandestine access to Silk Road and buy illegal drugs. 

Read Full Article 

RELATED ARTICLE:
Bitcoin: New Decentralized Currency 



RELATED VIDEO:
Bitcoin: Currency of Resistance



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Monday, June 6, 2011

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Quote of the Day: Griffin on Inflation by the Fed


Activist Post

"The American people have no idea they are paying the bill.  They know that 
someone is stealing their hubcaps, but they think it is the greedy businessman who raises prices or the selfish laborer who demands higher wages or the unworthy farmer who demands too much for his crop or the wealthy foreigner who bids up our prices.  They do not realize that these groups also are victimized by a monetary system which is constantly being eroded in value by and through the Federal Reserve System." -- G. Edward Griffin, The Creature From Jekyll Island, pg. 33.

Find more of G. Edward Griffin's work at the RealityZone.com or a Freedom-Force.org.



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Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Forbes Predicts U.S. Gold Standard Within 5 Years

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Paul Dykewicz
Human Events

A return to the gold standard by the United States within the next five years now seems likely, because that move would help the nation solve a variety of economic, fiscal, and monetary ills, Steve Forbes predicted during an exclusive interview this week with HUMAN EVENTS.

“What seems astonishing today could become conventional wisdom in a short period of time,” Forbes said.

Such a move would help to stabilize the value of the dollar, restore confidence among foreign investors in U.S. government bonds, and discourage reckless federal spending, the media mogul and former presidential candidate said. The United States used gold as the basis for valuing the U.S. dollar successfully for roughly 180 years before President Richard Nixon embarked upon an experiment to end the practice in the 1970s that has contributed to a number of woes that the country is suffering from now, Forbes added.

If the gold standard had been in place in recent years, the value of the U.S. dollar would not have weakened as it has and excessive federal spending would have been curbed, Forbes told HUMAN EVENTS. The constantly changing value of the U.S. dollar leads to marketplace uncertainty and consequently spurs speculation in commodity investing as a hedge against inflation.

Read Full Article

RELATED ARTICLES:
5 Alternatives to the Federal Reserve
The After-the-Fed Debate Begins



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Monday, March 28, 2011

Why You Should be Freaked Out About the Stock Market

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Phoenix Capital Research
Zero Hedge

I doubt you will see this chart in the mainstream media any time soon... if EVER.
























This is a chart of the US monetary base. In simple terms, it charts how much money the Fed has pumped into the system (at least that it admits). So it’s a kind of visual of the Fed hitting the PANIC button: when the monetary base explodes higher, the Fed is FREAKING out.

You'll note that during the Financial Crisis the Fed didn't do much until the autumn of 2008 when it pumped nearly $1 trillion into the system. Think about that, the Fed didn’t go nuts pumping money until the stuff REALLY hit the fan.

You'll also note that there's only one other time when the monetary base went absolutely vertical: TODAY.

Indeed, the Fed has pumped nearly $500 billion into the system since the start of 2011. Don't even try to tell me  this is QE 2. If it was then the monetary base should have spiked in late 2010, NOT in 2011.

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Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Politicians Push Gold Standard: Have Americans Totally Lost Trust in Our Institutions?

The sudden public interest in reforming banking and money signals a loss of trust in our future.

Joshua Holland
AlterNet

People across the United States are losing trust in the dollar. Georgia, Virginia and 9 other states have considered so-called “Constitutional tender” laws that would require, in at least some cases, that state governments collect and make payments only in gold or silver. South Carolina and Virginia are considering creating their own currencies. Utah legislators just passed a bill allowing the use of gold and silver currency.

Animated by doomsday scenarios about crashing currencies and wild hyperinflation, speculators have sent the prices of gold, silver and other precious metals skyrocketing.

At the same time, a growing movement to establish state-chartered banks that could better serve the needs of their communities – and act as “mini-feds” to help stabilize local economies -- is also taking hold across the country.


But what explains this sudden fascination with radically reshaping the contours of a monetary system to which few people gave much thought just a few short years ago?

While the words “In God We Trust” appear on the back of every dollar in circulation, in reality it should read, “In Institutions We Trust.” Our money, after all, is what's known as “fiat currency,” meaning that it's created out of thin air, unmoored from any tangible good. The dollar has value because we believe it has value – we work for green pieces of paper only because we have confidence that we'll be able to exchange those slips for food and shelter and whatever else we need to get by.

That's the way modern economies work, which allows central bankers to respond to turns in the economy by adjusting the money supply. Yet, policy-makers are human, and can err, meaning that we not only have to have a belief in the value of a dollar for the system to work, but also in the competency and motivation of those central bankers. And while they're supposed to be detached technocrats calmly steering our ship through troubled waters, the reality is that the interests of bankers and workers are anything but overlapping.

Read Full Article

RELATED ARTICLES:
Monetary Reform Begins with Competing Currencies
The After-the-Fed Solutions Debate Begins



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Saturday, December 18, 2010

Ron Paul: End the Fed by Allowing Competing Currencies (VIDEO)

Youtube - RonPaulRevolution
Will Ron Paul use his new position as Chairman of the Domestic Monetary Policy Subcommittee to deliver the coup de grâce to an embattled Federal Reserve by auditing its gold reserves and pushing for the legalization of competing currencies?


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Friday, December 10, 2010

Is anti-Fed feeling going mainstream?

Zachary Roth
Yahoo News

We've told you about the war on the Federal Reserve launched lately by conservatives. And now comes evidence that it could be gaining some traction in the court of public opinion.

Fifty-five percent of Americans say the central bank should either be reined in or abolished entirely, according to a new Bloomberg poll. Thirty-seven percent say it should be left as is.

Since the Fed last month announced plans to buy $600 billion in Treasury bonds in an effort to jolt the slumbering economy, small-government conservatives have gone ballistic. Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan has said the move could weaken the dollar, and Sarah Palin -- not usually cited as an authority on monetary policy -- haswarned that the move will lead to rising prices, going so far as to invoke the hyper-inflation of 1920s Germany.

The attacks have been so intense that Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has launched a counter-offensive, going on "60 Minutes" to defend the asset purchases as a source of much-needed economic stimulus.

Read Full Article

RELATED ARTICLE:
The After-the-Fed Debate Begins: Greenbackers vs. Goldbugs


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Wednesday, November 3, 2010

On Inflation, Saving, and the Nature of Money

Anthony Migchels
Activist Post - Contributing Writer

I've noticed lately that one of the primary reasons for people to cling on to usury, even if they are all for a non-interest-bearing money supply, is to encourage saving.  However, one cannot make money by saving interest-bearing money.

I want to discuss a more advanced appreciation of money and credit.  If you need to get up-to-speed on the current issues facing our monetary system, you'll find Ellen Brown's recent article on money as credit quite useful.

The below is far from complete, but my goal is to invite new thinking which we badly need in our search for an equitable, efficient, and effective monetary system.

The Problem
Money is generally said to have three functions: unit of account, medium of exchange, and store of wealth.  We'll forget about the unit of account function, although reform is also needed here. However, it is the most innocent function of money; the true conflict is with the other two designations.

We instinctively tend to give the store of wealth function of money quite a lot of status, hence our dislike of inflation and the enduring attraction of the Austrian School.  However, this notion might be mistaken.  The most extreme opposition to it was delivered by Silvio Gesell who totally destroyed the store of wealth function in his currencies by his demurrage, negative interest. Holding money costs you between 6 and 20%  per year, vastly increasing the velocity of circulation. Its most  legendary implementation was  in Wörgl, Austria, 1934.  I  don't like quoting Wiki, but in this case they are concise and accurate.   Demurrage is also used in dozens of the German Regional Currencies.
The quintessential function of money is that of a medium of exchange, not that of "store of value."  In fact, my definition of money is this:  Money is anything that is generally accepted by agreement as a medium of exchange.  It so happens, that this is basically and fundamentally opposed to the function of store of wealth.  After all, medium of exchange implies circulation; store of wealth implies non-circulation.
How can these two opposites be reconciled? The fact of the matter is: they cannot. Not, at any rate, as one unit.  Here's a little thought experiment to further the point.
What is saving?
We are accustomed to think saving means saving money. To my mind, however, saving means abstaining from consumption now, preserving it for future use. For instance: we want to retire, so we don't use our entire income now for consumption, but store wealth for the days we won't have income from our labor.  We don't need to save money for this goal. We can use our current income to buy durable goods, or invest in projects that will provide us future income or lower costs for services we need.

When I suggest investing in businesses, I am not thinking about shares in BP or Goldman Sachs, but serious businesses; the ones that are run by people we know and trust.  We could buy a house with an interest-free mortgage, and "eat it" during our last years. We could even buy some silver. There are many things we could do.  In these ways we would store wealth without owning a penny.

This leaves the question of how to finance production, and obtain the interest-free mortgages we want. We are used to thinking of savers providing us with the capital. But even today this is not the case.  Most of the money that is lent out is created at the moment the loan is agreed upon.

The banks have learned that it is quite feasible to create working capital by pushing a few buttons -- at almost no cost.  They use this technology to expropriate our assets through usury and inflation-deflation cycles. A rational system would provide the needed liquidity at just a little more than cost price.
So we don't seem to need savers in a rational monetary system.
We should abstain from the desire of getting return on our money. Wealth is created by labor, not capital. This is easy to do, when we realize what price we pay for our current system through interest. By far the majority of people lose much more through interest, even when they are not in debt, than they ever will receive on their savings.
Saving should morph from saving money, to asset collection. This also would automatically end the danger the middle class is now facing: their paper "assets" are being wiped out. They would not have experienced any problems had they not hoarded cash and other paper "assets."
In fact, it is often not well understood that usually it is primarily the middle class that suffers during inflation. Inflation also has winners: debtors, people with their wealth in assets, and landowners with mortgaged properties. The poor usually do not win or lose through inflation, because they own nothing. Their wages are compensated. At the height of the Weimar inflation, for instance, workers and employers had wage negotiations several times per day.
I'm not saying this to condone inflation, but to minimize its relevance.
If  we invest in real production, we can expect a return in some way, but there is no use for savers. There is no reason to give them a return just for hoarding cash. We don't need their liquidity, and their hoarding  is hindering the free flow of money and actually making it more scarce, requiring more people to go into debt to provide the commonwealth with the liquidity it needs
This is the "price" we pay for (almost) free money. We can't have interest-free money if we want savers to receive interest. It would be illogical and unnecessary.
In an economy such as this, all of the economic actors would quit eyeballing cash and start focusing on the real world: assets. Cash would be plentiful and readily available when needed. At least for those with solid asset positions. Its only use would be to exchange real stuff between many players, facilitating specialization and higher achievement in the interest of all involved.
Banks know about the difference between money and assets. They know exactly what is what. They prefer to see you go bust, because they like your house better than they like being repaid.
We need a money system that would liberate everybody from the scarcity of cash, so that we can get a truly level playing field.
This can be achieved only when we give up the notion of making money with money.

Anthony Migchels is an Interest-Free Currency activist and founder of the Gelre, the first Regional Currency in the Netherlands. You can read all of his articles on his blog Real Currencies.

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