Sunday, January 29, 2012

Economics Question: Is returning to the "Gold Standard" like spinning gold out of straw?

Ron Paul: Gold Standard 1/30/09



At 1 minute and 30 seconds - 'right now the transition to the gold standard would be difficult, a transition is needed where gold currency would be competing with a paper currency then obviously gold would win' 

Explanation: Gold would win because of the price stability that precious metals affords - The supply of metal (gold and silver) will balance against the demand for its own place in the market while the dollar will have it's own place in the market (kinda like junk bonds). Overtime, people will 'invest' more in the gold currency and a stable monetary system (as far as inflation and trade is concerned) will emerge. Click here for a full explanation of market volatility and gold prices.

At 2 minutes 20 seconds - Ron Paul foresaw the gold bubble

At 3 minutes 50 seconds - 'Legal tender laws force people to use the dollar'


This is also covered my explanation of Ron Paul's plan = "Overview of Ron Paul's Plan To Restore America":
MONETARY POLICY:
Conducts a full audit of the Federal Reserve and implements competing currency legislation to strengthen the dollar and stabilize inflation.
Having competing currency legislation would bring commodity based money to the market. As it is, the FED is privately owned (which I have been opposed to because of  'conflict of interest' for a long time), this will make them have to compete. As it is, bank monopolies have the same problems as media monopolies.

Currently what we have is "fiat money";
Definition of 'Fiat Money': Currency that a government has declared to be legal tender, despite the fact that it has no intrinsic value and is not backed by reserves. Historically, most currencies were based on physical commodities such as gold or silver, but fiat money is based solely on faith.

Investopedia explains 'Fiat Money': Most of the world's paper money is fiat money. Because fiat money is not linked to physical reserves, it risks becoming worthless due to hyperinflation. If people lose faith in a nation's paper currency, the money will no longer hold any value.

In addition to this we have secret money lending and bailouts which is being done by actually printing money. i.e. the money supply increases thereby inflation occurs making real wages (the amount of money you make) less in comparison to the increase of prices. This means that you can buy less for the same amount of money. Click here to learn more about how "demand and supply" works.

The Fed's $16 Trillion Bailouts Under-reported

The media’s inscrutable brush-off of the Government Accounting Office’s recently released audit of the Federal Reserve has raised many questions about the Fed’s goings-on since the financial crisis began in 2008.

The audit of the Fed’s emergency lending programs was scarcely reported by mainstream media – albeit the results are undoubtedly newsworthy. It is the first audit of the Fed in United States history since its beginnings in 1913. The findings verify that over $16 trillion was allocated to corporations and banks internationally, purportedly for “financial assistance” during and after the 2008 fiscal crisis.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) amended the Wall Street Reform law to audit the Fed, pushing the GAO to step in and take a look around. Upon hearing the announcement that the first-ever audit would take place in July, the media was bowled over and nearly every broadcast network and newspaper covered the story. However, the audit’s findings were almost completely overlooked, even with a number as high as $16 trillion staring all of us in the face.

Read more about the gold standard (with some videos) on Ron Paul.com

Useful to know:

The 3 Branches of Government

Useful Bailout Links and Congress Video Clips

Chapter 1 of Unequal Democracy: The Political Economy of the New Gilded Age By Larry M. Bartels

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